


Faking It

by Ultra



Category: Leverage
Genre: Alternate Universe, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, Developing Relationship, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Kissing, Making Out, Parker Being Parker (Leverage), Season/Series 02, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-29
Updated: 2011-05-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 22:10:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15495744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: Parker is bored of Hardison making a big deal about their fake make-out on the David job. Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss, or so she thought, until she tries to prove it...





	1. Chapter 1

A lot of things had changed for the Leverage team these past few months. They had all gone off on their own adventures after LA, and yet all found each other again in Boston to reconvene and begin their ‘Robin Hood-style’ works again. Instead of an office, they worked out of Nate’s apartment, and instead of being a drunk the Mastermind was constantly on a caffeine fix. They all knew each other better now, and this whole thing seemed to have become less a job and more a way of life.

Of course, some things didn’t change. One of the more annoying for Parker was that Hardison seemed unwilling to let go when it came to their last job in LA.

“Hey, on the subject of that second David job we pulled,” said Hardison as the topic came up between them one more time. “We never did talk on that,” he reminded her as he followed her across the apartment.

“What’s to talk about?” she asked, either entirely oblivious to what he meant or playing the part of confused very well.

“Uh, maybe how you and me was... We made out, Parker,” the geek told her in a low voice, checking none of the others were listening, a pointless exercise in secrecy since Nate, Sophie, and Eliot all knew just exactly what had happened that day.

“Yes, we did,” agreed Parker with a single nod, before going back to packing things she needed for their latest job into the bag in front of her. “I still don’t understand what we need to talk about.” She frowned slightly.

It seemed to Hardison that maybe she really didn’t get it, though he was baffled as to how it could be true. As far as he was concerned, you didn’t just kiss a person like that without it meaning something. He certainly meant it when Parker started macking on him and he kissed back with a passion. From the beginning he knew she was hot stuff, and as they got to know each other he realised he genuinely liked her for much more than just her body and mad skills in thievery and rappelling. When she kissed him that way, he was sure she felt the same; now he wasn’t so sure.

“Parker,” he tried again to get her attention, his hand at her arm finally making her look at him though she seemed quite annoyed that he was still bugging her. “I don’t... I thought that when you kissed me, it meant something,” he said with a look that he hoped conveyed a meaning he was having trouble getting out in words.

A light seemed to dawn in Parker’s eyes then, which pleased Alec Hardison at first, until her expression shifted from understanding to almost a kind of pity. She knew what he meant, she got how he felt, and yet she couldn’t feel the same.

“Oh, you’re so sweet,” she said with a smile that ought to have pleased him, except Hardison already knew what was coming. “We were in the middle of a con,” she reminded him. “We needed to trip the alarm somehow without the guards knowing we were thieves. Making out was the easiest way to do that.” She shrugged, looking apologetic somehow and yet that didn’t make Hardison feel any better.

“You seriously tellin’ me you can kiss a guy like that and not feel a damn thing?” he checked, hardly able to believe it was true.

Parker huffed out a deep sigh, apparently a little bored with this now. He wasn’t getting that she was just good at what she did it seemed. Sure, Hardison was a nice guy and she did like him a lot, which was strange since there wasn’t a whole lot of people she did like. Still, she never really thought about sleeping with him or anything serious like that. Clearly she was going to have to prove her point or he was never going to leave this alone. It had to be the tenth time he’d brought up that stupid kiss in the last couple of weeks alone.

“Okay,” she said, brushing past him to walk over to the couch where Eliot was sat going through some papers. “Eliot, can I borrow you?” she asked abruptly as ever and without even enough thought to use the manners Sophie had taught her and say ‘please’.

“Borrow me for what?” he asked curiously, looking between Parker and Hardison who had now appeared behind her.

“A demonstration,” was all the explanation she gave as she took a hold of his arm and yanked til he got to his feet.

“Hey, I don’t...” he began to protest.

“Oh, hell no!” Hardison’s words drowned out the hitter’s own and both lost the ability to form further words then as Parker’s arm snaked around Eliot’s neck and she pulled him to her, crushing her lips against his own.

The hacker couldn’t stand to watch the display before him, turning his back as Parker made a big deal about getting up close and personal with the team’s muscle.

Eliot was kind of confused, truth be told. He wasn’t so very used to girls just launching themselves at him without warning like this, and Parker was certainly the last person he’d considered doing such a thing. Still, having her in his arms like this, kissing him like it was going out of style, it certainly didn’t feel like such a bad thing from where he was at right now.

When Parker’s air supply started to run out, she reluctantly broke the kiss that had gone on somewhat longer than she’d intended, but then she hadn’t really expected Eliot to join in with her so willingly. Here she was trying to prove a point that sometimes a kiss was just a kiss, a means to an end, and didn’t have to have any feelings attached to it, and yet, she wasn’t entirely sure that was what she’d confirmed at all.

Swallowing hard and breathing erratically, her eyes were locked onto Eliot’s own, and the world around her seemed to have gone completely out of focus. She hadn’t meant for that to happen, really she hadn’t. It was meant to be a simple kiss and then walk away, telling Hardison that it all meant nothing, that he was reading too much into it and being dumb. Unfortunately, right now she wasn’t so sure she could even move. Eliot’s arms around her offered support she felt she needed after such a moment, because if she tried to walk away Parker fully expected her knees to buckle under her, not just from the kiss they had shared, but from the intense way his eyes bore into her own still.

“What was that for?” he said eventually.

Since he was sure the moment was over and it was safe to turn back, Hardison was the one to answer.

“Parker was trying to prove to me that our making out at the gallery six months ago wasn’t anything but an act,” he said, a little sadness and annoyance both lacing his tone.

“A demonstration,” she agreed, shaking her head a little and trying to bring herself out of the daze she’d apparently landed in.

Parker very deliberately extracted her body from Eliot’s grasp and backed up a couple of steps. He let her go only because he wasn’t sure what else to do right now, as bemused as her by the way their bodies had reacted to each other in such a moment.

“Right.” He nodded slowly, eyes finally leaving her face to look at the hacker he often bickered with but liked and respected nonetheless, “You thought it meant something, man?” He forced an amused smile. “I didn’t feel a thing,” he lied like the pro he was as he re-took his seat on the couch, clearing his throat and going back to looking over the paperwork he’d been dealing with before.

“Not a thing,” Parker agreed though her eyes betrayed her, Hardison saw, as she glanced from one man to the other and then turned to walk away, her fingers going absently to her lips.

“Yeah, maybe not with me,” he muttered to himself, as he looked between the pair.

It didn’t make him feel great to know that he and Parker were never going to be closer than they were now, at least not romantically, but there wasn’t a chance in hell of Hardison believing the thief and the hitter hadn’t felt a whole lot more than they were admitting to when they kissed just now. He wondered how long it would take for them to realise it for themselves.


	2. Chapter 2

Parker was confused. It wasn’t altogether an unusual feeling for her, since a lot of things often had her baffled, and strangely it was usually things that other people found simple that bothered her. Ask her to rappel from the top of a high rise or break into a vault without setting off an alarm, and Parker was just fine with it. When it came to more basic girly type things, she got a little lost.

Thankfully, these days Parker wasn’t quite so alone as she had been for most of her life. Relying on herself worked most of the time, but having another woman around in particular, one that understood the things she didn’t, that had some definite advantages.

Hopping up onto the kitchen counter in her usual silence, Parker turned to make sure the guys were occupied watching Nate’s TV and wouldn’t interrupt her conversation. Satisfied now was as good a time as any, she spoke.

“Sophie?” her voice came so suddenly to the English woman’s ears that she very nearly burnt herself with the hot coffee she had just made. “Can I ask you something?”

“If it’s how I didn’t just scald my fingers off, then I honestly couldn’t tell you,” she muttered a reply as she grabbed up enough paper-towels to mop up the mess on the countertop.

“No, it’s about... guys,” said Parker, speaking more quietly on the last word in particular, clearly mindful of being overheard.

Sophie turned to lean her back against the opposite counter, holding her now only half-full mug of coffee in her hands. She peered over at the couch where Nate, Eliot, and Hardison were sat watching football. They seemed completely engrossed and therefore they shouldn’t interrupt them, which was a good thing.

“Which guys in particular?” she asked then, genuinely a little confused since Parker wasn’t exactly girly when it came to men.

“Just, y’know, in general." Parker shrugged. “See, I was thinking; when you’re on a job, doing what you do, did you ever have to kiss a guy?” she asked. “Y’know for a con, to keep your cover or something?”

“A few times, yeah.” Sophie nodded thoughtfully, sipping at her coffee. “Why do you ask that?” she wondered aloud, thinking it was strange that Parker should be suddenly so interested in her grifting.

“Did you feel anything?” came the blonde’s next question and Sophie very nearly spat her hot drink all over her like a spectacular fountain, catching herself just before it actually happened.

“What?” she gasped, a little concerned now as to where this conversation tended.

Putting her hand to her mouth she wiped a stray drip of coffee from her chin and swallowed hard, as Parker frowned. She didn’t understand what was freaking Sophie out so much, unless she’s asked the question wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time after all.

“When you kissed the guys,” she tried to explain as best she could. “Did you feel... feelings?” she said with some strange emphasis and a look that it took Sophie a moment to catch onto.

“Oh! Feelings!” she gasped suddenly as she realised just exactly what the younger woman was getting at. “Well, um, only once,” she admitted, “and that was, well, that was specific,” she said, her eyes straying to where Nate was sat on the couch, cursing the fumbling football players on the screen. “Sweetie, why do you need to know this?” she asked Parker then, snapping out of her daze as quickly as it had come over her - now was not the time for reminiscing.

Parker sighed heavily. She almost didn’t want to have to explain this, it was too strange, and yet she knew that unless she told Sophie about her problem, she was certainly never going to figure out the right way to deal with it on her own.

“It was that museum job we pulled, stealing the David statues,” she reminded the grifter, though of course she was unlikely to have forgotten their last major heist in LA, getting revenge on Blackpoole, Stirling, and IYS as a whole. “Me and Hardison faked making out-” she went on, not getting to the point when Sophie cut in.

“And you felt something!” she said, perhaps a little too loudly, with a grin on her face wide enough to fill the apartment. “Parker, that’s great. I think he actually likes you and-”

“No!” the thief interrupted far too loudly, inadvertently getting the attention of the guys from across the apartment.

Three pairs of eyes all turned to stare a moment, until the girls just smiled and waved like nothing was wrong. The men were soon back to their sports, and the girls continued their chat in lower voices.

“I don’t feel that way about Hardison, I don’t,” said Parker firmly. “He’s a nice guy and all but, no.” She shook her head.

“Then I don’t understand,” admitted Sophie. “Is the problem that he felt something?” she guessed.

“Kind of.” Parker sighed once again. “See, I was trying to explain to him that when we kissed I felt nothing. I was demonstrating that when you’re pulling a cover for a con it doesn’t mean anything,” she explained, “that two people like us can just kiss and not feel anything at all.”

Sophie was listening, she really was, but whatever it was Parker was trying to tell her was clearly getting lost in translation. It was difficult because she so wanted to help the girl find a balance between her own personality and the normality of everyone else’s lives. It never came easy, but she wasn’t giving up, especially not when Parker had actually come to seek her out and have what must seem like a very important conversation to her.

“You... demonstrated?” she checked, that particular part bemusing her.

“On Eliot,” confirmed Parker with a nod. “It didn’t work,” she said with a sigh, and the penny finally dropped for Sophie.

“Oh!” she gasped, eyes shifting from Parker to the couch and back. “Really? You and Eliot?” she said, a slight frown marring her features as she thought about the possibility.

It seemed an odd pairing at first glance perhaps, but she could certainly see Parker’s attraction to the hitter. The man was pleasing enough to the eye, and his occupation gave him that bad boy vibe that many a woman had fallen for in the past. Of course, underneath all that he really was kind of a sweetheart, though Sophie was pretty sure he’d threaten to rip the limbs off anyone who suggested it to him.

“I know, I don’t get it either!” Parker was saying when her friend finally tore her eyes away from the back of Eliot’s head across the room and listened again. “But I just, I kissed him, and he kissed back and... I don’t even know what happened.” She waved one hand in a random gesture, rolling her eyes for good measure before leaning in to whisper. “And now, every time he looks at me or talks to me, I feel all... girly,” she admitted, unable to find any adjective that better suited the feelings she was getting lately.

Of course there had been guys in her life before now that she had liked, been attracted to, wanted to be close to, mostly to sleep with, but this was different. This felt like nothing Parker had ever felt before and she didn’t like it, mostly because it could not be easily explained. Most things were black and white to Parker. She liked someone or she didn’t; she felt happy or she felt sad; she knew how to steal the thing or she didn’t (usually the former rather than the latter) but these feelings she was getting now, they didn’t fit one side of a line or the other. Parker had hoped Sophie would be able to help her with that, but honestly she looked almost as baffled as the poor blonde herself felt.

“Well,” she said after a long silence. “Um, Parker, I don’t really know what to say,” she admitted. “I mean, do you think... Has Eliot said or done anything to make you think he likes you?” she checked.

“I dunno.” She shrugged, kicking her legs back and forth like a kid. “Like I said, when I kissed him he definitely kissed back but I don’t really know if that means anything. That’s why I was asking you,” she admitted, making Sophie feel bad.

She wanted to help her friend out, of course she did, but Eliot was hardly the easiest man to read or to talk to most of the time. She was certain he had a heart of gold held within the iron shell he showed the world, but as far as women were concerned he only ever seemed interested in one night stands, though even those he tried to keep private from the prying eyes of the team.

“Okay, so here’s what we’ll do,” said Sophie eventually. “Don’t say or do anything differently for now,” she advised. “Try to act naturally, and I’ll keep an eye on Eliot. There are certain signs you look for with men, to tell if they’re interested and to what degree that interest stretches...” she tried to explain, though she could see already she was losing Parker. “Just act naturally and leave the rest to me,” she said with a smile, glad to see a similar expression form on her friends face as she hopped down off the counter and walked away.

* * *

It was getting late in the evening. The girls had long since made their excuses and gone home, barely getting so much as a wave out of the guys who were still engrossed in their football game then, at least they all appeared that way to Sophie and Parker. Nate knew different, of course. Though he’d had one eye on sports, he’d had the other on the guy sat next to him on the couch.

Eliot had something on his mind, that much was obvious. His head was not in the game, and it bothered the mastermind. After all, if the hitter couldn’t even concentrate on football, there was a chance his mind might wander at a more serious moment, like in the middle of a con, and that could have dire consequences.

Hardison was next out the door, though he claimed he wasn’t tired and would not be going to sleep. Some online game just got released in a new version and he intended to spend all night attempting to complete it by fair means or foul. When Eliot didn’t even make an anti-geek comment at that particular declaration, Nate really did start to worry.

“I guess I should be goin’ too,” said the hitter, drinking down the remainder of his beer and gathering up several other empties to dump in the kitchen before he left for the night.

“Actually, before you do go,” said Nate, following Eliot with empty potato chip packets and such in his hands. “We need to have a talk. What’s on your mind, Eliot?” he asked as they reached the kitchen counter, and Nate pulled himself up onto a stool.

“What do you mean what’s on my mind?” he asked snippily. “Nothin’ is on my mind, and if it was, no offence, but I probably wouldn’t want to talk about it anyway, _Dad_ ,” he said with a pointed look, clearly feeling he was being spoken to like a troubled teen.

Nate couldn’t help but smile at the implication, after all, this wasn’t the first time he’d felt a little like the father of at least three unruly children whilst running this team. Between Parker, Hardison, and Eliot, they certainly caused him enough trouble from time to time.

“Look, I don’t want to be your father, Eliot,” Nate told him easily watching the guy bag up the trash and stack up the empties for recycling. “I don’t even have to be your friend if you don’t want, but while you’re on this team I need you focused and right now you’re not,” he told him, expression firm as Eliot turned to look at him. “So, I’ll ask again, what’s on your mind?” He smiled amiably as he waited for an answer.

The hitter was unimpressed at being strong-armed into talking about anything, least of all something related to his feelings. Of course, on some level, he kind of wanted to talk about it, if only so someone could tell him he wasn’t going crazy. Honestly, right now he was feeling as if he just might be.

“Okay, first off, you’re a hypocrite, Ford,” he told him, pointing a finger at him. “Last year, between the family issues and the booze, your head was as far away from the game as it could be, more than once,” he reminded him, “and second...” he faltered a little, the anger that bubbled beneath the surface fading as he let out a sigh. “It has to do with Parker,” he admitted, pushing his hair off his face as he came to sit on the stool facing Nate.

“What did she do?” the older guy asked curiously, sure he wouldn’t be shocked by anything Eliot said next, after all, it was Parker!

“She, er, she kissed me.” He smiled perhaps too much as he explained, catching himself suddenly and turning his expression neutral. “It didn’t mean anything, she was tryin’ to make Hardison get off her case about their fake make out on the David job,” he explained, “but since then... I just don’t want her having a crush on me,” he said definitely, not actually looking at Nate, until suddenly the guy just burst out laughing far too loudly. “Okay, what’s so funny about that?”

It took Nate a while before he could catch his breath, slamming a hand on the counter as he fought through a severe bout of the giggles. Eliot did not look at all amused, and for his sake the mastermind tried his best to stop fast.

“Oh, Eliot,” he said eventually, wiping a tear from his eye. “Honestly, I am sure you have nothing at all to worry about with Parker,” he told him sincerely. “In case you hadn’t noticed, she’s not exactly an ordinary girl when it comes to relationships with anybody. I highly doubt she got anything from that kiss with you, no matter how good you think you are,” he said with a wry smile, sliding off the stool and slapping the hitter on the back as he walked away.

Eliot stared after him a moment, then shook his head and chuckled to himself. He was being an idiot, of course he was. There was no way Parker would feel that way about him, and he sure as hell had no interest in her... no interest at all, nope, not at all. At least, that was what he was telling himself right now.


	3. Chapter 3

Parker had a plan, or rather she had Sophie’s plan, which was strange in that the whole thing involved doing nothing at all. The problem was, Parker wasn’t good at acting natural and normal, because her own version of natural was far removed from everybody elses. Add to that the fact that every time she went anywhere near Eliot lately she lost her grip on even the small sense of normalcy she usually held onto, it only made things worse.

Still, the latest con had gone off without a hitch, or rather with no problem that they couldn’t solve. So here they were at Nate’s getting the de-brief, sat around in the living area of his apartment, just like they usually did. Only Parker wasn’t listening, wasn’t even looking at the leader of their team. Her eyes kept straying to the left where Eliot was sat a little closer to her than usual.

It wasn’t a deliberate act. Nate had dumped half his costume in the far armchair, Sophie had sat down in the other and before Parker had a chance to consider her options she suddenly found herself squashed between Hardison and Eliot on the couch. A week ago or more, she wouldn’t even have thought about it, but now it felt strange and awkward and...

“Parker?” said Nate suddenly catching her attention, making her realise just how tuned out of the conversation she was, and how her eyes were still on Eliot.

“Hmm, yeah, what?” she said, very deliberately looking to their leader.

“You okay?” he checked. “You didn’t seem like you were listening.”

“I was.” She smiled, an abject lie, but hopefully Nate wouldn’t notice or maybe just wouldn’t care.

“Then what did I say?” he asked her, head tilted slightly as he studied her, and all other eyes in the room turned to stare as well.

“Um...” she looked to Sophie for help and though she would have liked to have done so, Nate was somehow capable of watching all of them at once, so there really wasn’t an opportunity. “I... I don’t know,” Parker admitted at length, shrugging her shoulders heavily.

“It been a looong day, Nate,” Hardison pointed out, always the first to jump to the thief’s defence somehow. “Hell, I barely got my eyes open, my ears ain’t even tryin’ anymore.”

Nate sighed at that but was apparently willing to let it go and give in.

“Fine, I guess we can talk this out tomorrow,” he conceded, waving a hand that signalled they should all leave.

The four of them were up in a second and out of the door before anything else could happen that might mean they needed to stay. Hardison was practically in his car before anybody else so much as cleared the doors downstairs and Sophie, Parker, and Eliot all looked to each other rather than immediately parting ways.

“Er, either of you need a ride home or anything?” Eliot offered.

Perhaps some would think such an offer out of character for a guy not exactly pre-disposed to kindness, but his team knew different. He played the hardman because he was one, but underneath it all he did care. He wouldn’t have Sophie or Parker wandering around the dark streets on Boston alone, even if they were a little smarter and tougher than the average woman in town.

“Um, y’know, actually I think I should head back up,” said Sophie, glancing from Eliot to Parker then very deliberately up at the apartment block they had just exited. “Yeah, I mean, Nate’s had a rough day, might be tempted to... slip back into old habits,” she mimed what was clearly supposed to be drinking and yet looked more like thumb-sucking the way she did it, as she said her goodnights and headed back inside.

“And then there were two,” said Parker softly to herself, pushing her hands into the pockets of her pants.

“So, we gonna stand here in the cold all night or you want that ride home?” asked Eliot, though Parker didn’t seem to hear him at all at first, just continued to stare after Sophie.

The truth was the little blonde was confused... again! Surely the grifter had told her to act normally and naturally around Eliot and she would watch for ‘signs’, whatever the hell that meant, Parker still didn’t get it. Now she was rushing off and leaving her alone with the hitter she was pretty sure she liked too much. How was Sophie supposed to watch for signs if she wasn’t even there? It did not make sense.

“Parker?” Eliot tried to get her attention, just about to reach out a hand to her shoulder when she spun around so fast he actually almost jumped with surprise, but managed to hide it well.

“You wanna get a drink?” she asked stiffly, almost as if she was a ventriloquists dummy with the words being put into her mouth by someone else.

It would make sense if she were being operated from another place, Eliot sometimes wondered if it was another planet actually, but the less said about that the better. Considering her question, he had to admit a drink sounded good. He had no wish or need to go home and sleep right now, and since Hardison, Nate, and Sophie were gone, his hanging out options landed squarely with Parker. She was weird at times, but that was okay, he was getting used to it. Besides, if he was going to be drinking, he suspected she’d stop seeming so strange a few beers in.

“Sure, why not?” he shrugged, following her as they headed into McRorys.

Parker had a smile on her face that thankfully Eliot couldn’t see as they headed inside and went up to the bar. Her eyes slipped heavenward as she whispered a thank you for the help gratefully received. Anyone who saw her or heard her might have assumed some divine power was at work, but that wasn’t quite true.

* * *

“I really don’t need a baby-sitter, Sophie,” sighed Nate tiredly as he ran a hand over his face. “You could’ve gone home. The only bottle I was planning on opening was milk for my cocoa,” he assured her, only to turn and find she wasn’t even listening anyway, “Soph?”

“Hmm?” she said, eyes not lifting from the screen of her cell for another few moments. “Sorry, what?” she said, pocketing her phone at last and moving to take off her coat.

“What was that all about?” asked Nate curiously leaning on the back of the couch to look at her. “Are you up to something?”

“Really, Nate, what would I be up to?” she replied as she placed her coat carefully on the back of a chair and walked around the couch to sit down beside him.

The smile pulling at her lips told her friend he was right, that she was indeed up to no good. All he had to do was keep up with the disbelieving stare a minute longer and she’d crack, he was certain of it. Once again, Nate was proved right as Sophie grinned wider and turned in her seat to better face him.

“Okay, so I am up to something, but something good,” she promised. “I’m helping Parker with Eliot.”

Immediately the interest and smile visible on Nate’s features was gone, replaced with concern and almost fear.

“Helping her to do what with Eliot?” he asked warily.

“Well, she likes him,” explained Sophie. “Not that I really expected you to notice, being male as you are. Honestly, do you blokes walk around with your eyes closed?” she asked, and since Nate could feel one of her rambling rants coming on, he cut in fast.

“Okay, okay,” he said, pinching the bridge if his nose - apparently he was due a headache right about now, whether she continued talking or not. “So Parker likes Eliot, which is strange and unnatural in and of itself,” he decided, “but what exactly are you doing getting involved in that?”

“Oh, come on, Nate.” Sophie rolled her eyes. “You know Parker hasn’t a clue about interaction with other people, much less men she likes,” she explained. “She asked me for help and that’s what I’m doing. So far we’re just testing the water but-”

“But this is never going to work, Sophie,” Nate warned her, watching her expression shift from happy to sad in an instant and unable to stand it right now. “You can’t just go matchmaking members of our team,” he told her seriously, getting up from the couch and heading for the kitchen to make that hot drink he’d been contemplating when she first came back in. “All you’re gonna achieve is tearing this group apart, not least because Eliot doesn’t even like Parker!” he called over his shoulder to her as he set about hunting down the things he needed from the cupboards.

“Is that what he told you?” asked Sophie, laughing into her words as she peered over the back of the couch at him.

The look of Nate’s face as he glanced back at her answered the question without him ever having to speak.

“Honestly,” she sighed heavily, getting up to help with the making of cocoa. “Men are so naive!”

* * *

This was awkward, every possible kind of awkward, and Eliot hated that. When he went for a drink it was a rare moment to relax, to just hang out, have a laugh and all. Here with Parker, well, even four beers in, he was struggling. They spent very little time alone together, and when they were on a job they at least had that to talk about. Here and now there was little or nothing he could find to say to her, and less she could find to say to him apparently. So here they sat, side by side, drinks in their hands, just barely smiling at each other once in a while, not sure what else they were supposed to do.

The major problem for Eliot was that his mind was still wandering, back to that kiss he and Parker had shared a few days ago. He’d kissed a lot of women in his time, a lot, probably far more than his fair share, but as far as he could recall, he’d never once thought about kissing Parker. It wasn’t that she was in any way unattractive to look at. She had a pretty face and a well-kept figure that was perfect for the job she did. If he saw her in a bar, dressed nice and all, chances were good he’d make a move. As it was, he knew better, and he’d never thought about her in that way, not until she made him.

Kissing him had been the means to an end, so she said, to prove a point to Hardison that sometimes when you’re acting you can just kiss someone and it not mean a thing. He’d played the part well but the truth of it was he had felt something when her lips were on his, her arms around his neck, and body pushed up against his own. He hadn’t wanted to, but there were some things a man just couldn’t help. If he didn’t know better Eliot would say that Parker was as into that kiss as he was, after all, it was Sophie who was the actress, she was just a thief and had proven to be less than convincing as a grifter in the past.

When he talked to Nate about all this, he had meant what he said. Eliot did not want Parker having a crush on him. It would make life far too complicated for the team, and for him, for all of them truth be told. Of course, a major reason for not wanting her to feel that way about him was because she might just succeed in tempting him to feel the same. No, that was the beer clouding his judgement, or so Eliot told himself as the thought occurred that maybe this was all a set up...

For Parker, this night was perhaps the strangest she had spent in a while. She didn’t go out on dates. As far as she could recall she’d never done anything with a guy that could be construed as an actual date, and this was maybe as close as she’d ever gotten to one. She wanted to talk, she really did, but nothing that came into her head seemed right to actually let out of her mouth. Besides, Eliot didn’t talk either, so maybe they just weren’t supposed to. Honestly, Parker hadn’t a clue, and since this wasn’t a job she didn’t have Sophie in her ear to help her out like in other situations when she was panicking over what to say or do.

Glancing sideways, she found Eliot was looking at her again. He’d been staring on and off this whole time, and each time she caught him she wondered what she was supposed to do. She’d tried smiling, and then he would kind of smile back and look away. One time she checked if she’d got something on her face but apparently she hadn’t. This time she didn’t get a chance to do anything as Eliot slid down off his stool and muttered something about the bathroom.

Parker watched him go and then immediately rifled in her pocket for her cell phone. Sophie had gotten her into this and she could get her out, surely. She started texting, concentrating on doing so quickly before Eliot came back, but was convinced she hadn’t managed it when she felt a presence on the stool beside her. She got a bigger shock when she turned her head to find herself face to face with a far larger and uglier man than expected, breathing too much booze all over her.

“Hey there, honey,” he slurred some as his hand landed on her shoulder. “What’s a pretty thing like you doin’ sat all on your lonesome?” he asked, a terrible pick up line for a decent, sober guy, neither of which this particular person was.

“I’m not alone,” the thief shook her head, pulling herself away from the stranger, hating the fact he had dared to touch her like that, “I was...”

“No, you don’t have to be alone now,” he leered, leaning over as much as she did, keeping himself in her personal space. “Daddy’s here,” he winked, making Parker want to vomit on the spot.

“Go away,” she shooed him as if he were a troublesome fly she’d like to swat.

Of course that wasn’t going to work and Parker was just starting to panic a little on the inside, when her saviour appeared.

“The lady asked you to leave,” said Eliot, tapping the great hulking mass of drunken flesh in the back of the shoulder. “Why don’t you try doin’ that,” he suggested, taking up a battle-ready stance even now, ever wary of this turning out badly.

“What’s it to you, pretty boy?” said the drunk as he dropped down off the stool and faced the hitter.

Parker very deliberately backed up into the corner clear of the action. There was a good chance there was about to be a fight, and though she trusted Eliot to win, she really didn’t want to get caught in the cross fire.

“Pretty boy, huh?” Eliot echoed with an unamused chuckle, then in a second had the idiot who would start with him pinned over the bar in a crash of glassware. “She’s my girlfriend, asshole!” he yelled in the drunks face.

Though the guy didn’t go down without a fight, Eliot would’ve beaten him easily even if the jerk was sober. Drunk as he was just made things easier as the hitter did what he did best, literally kicking his butt out of the front door of McRory’s a moment later.

Parker was always in awe of the kind of display Eliot put on when he fought, but this evening he had really knocked the wind out of her sails, and that was before he’d even landed a punch.

“You okay?” he asked her as he turned around, pushing his hair back out of his face.

“I’m... I’m your girlfriend?” said Parker uncertainly as she moved away from the wall now, gingerly coming back to the stool she’d been sat on before.

“Oh,” said Eliot, recalling what he’d said when he was beating on the guy and seriously wondering himself why he’d bothered to say such a thing. “Yeah, well, he doesn’t know better, so...” He shrugged, quick to change the subject it seemed. “Are you okay?” he checked again as he sat down beside her, trying to meet her eyes.

He doubted the guy had a chance to physically harm her, and there was no evidence he could see that she’d been hit by the breaking glass or debris. Still, she had to have been startled, afraid maybe. He knew how much she hated touching at the best of times...

“Yeah.” She nodded, a smile coming to her lips then as she seemed to relax, the ordeal over. “You really beat that guy up... for me,” she added the last two words with a kind of astonishment as she realised the real truth of them.

Eliot shifted uncomfortably as she gazed at him like some kind of hero. She wasn’t the first woman to do it and he doubted she’d be the last, but with her it wasn’t fun. He’d meant what he said before, Parker liking him that way would make life way to complicated and he could do without it.

“It’s what I do,” he said looking away and to the bartender to offer a little cash for the breakages caused before. “Y’know, for the team,” he added quickly, before the thief got any ideas he’d rather she didn’t have.

“Uh-huh, yeah.” Parker nodded her understanding though she was still wearing that smile that showed wonderment and gratitude both.

The thought crossed Eliot’s mind that if she’d been any other girl in a bar, this night could’ve ended very differently. Women loved a bad boy, he knew that, and the fact he could be both that guy and a hero all at the same time, oh he could’ve got some real gratitude from a woman for something like that. The way Parker was looking right now was starting to make him wonder a little too much on how things might go if he let her work on the ideas she seemed to be getting about him. Of course, Nate had told him he was crazy to even think it, but with Parker, anything was possible.

The memory of that kiss they shared was forever burnt into his mind and it just wouldn’t shift no matter what he did to try and make it leave. Spending time alone with Parker clearly wasn’t helping, that was for sure.

“C’mon,” he said, encouraging her up onto her feet. “We should get outta here,” he told her, gesturing for her to follow him, presumably out to his truck so he could drive her home.

Tonight had been a weird night, Eliot thought to himself, and it needed to be over, before it could get any weirder.


	4. Chapter 4

“And that’s when he slugged the other guy and kicked his ass right out of McRory’s,” Parker told Sophie all about her pseudo-date with Eliot the night before.

They were sat across a little table outside a cafe downtown, enjoying coffee and pastries. It was strange for them to be spending time together anywhere but at Nate’s apartment, but Sophie had pointed out that girl talk was always done this way, with delicious treats and all. Besides, they couldn’t have this kind of conversation where they might be overheard by the man they were discussing, or by the others. Nate didn’t approve of what Sophie was doing in the first place and given Hardison’s possible feelings for Parker, he really didn’t need to hear either.

“Ooh, that’s good.” Sophie smiled, popping another piece of apple Danish into her mouth. “That’s jealousy!” She grinned, giddy as a school girl about the whole thing.

“Jealousy?” her friend echoed, as she contemplated the odd frothy coffee Sophie had treated her to. “How does that work?” she checked, putting the cup to her lips and daring to take a sip of what turned out to be a delicious beverage.

Honestly, Sophie wasn’t sure what it was that Parker wasn’t understanding but she did her best to explain in such a way as to cover all bases.

“Well, when the drunk man in the bar showed an interest in you, Eliot felt the need to beat him up,” she told her. “He didn’t want the other guy to like you, which makes it seem as if he likes you himself,” she explained. “You did say he called you his girlfriend?”

“Yeah, he did.” Parker couldn’t help but grin at that, her expression shifting almost immediately to sad and confused as she went on. “But he didn’t look much like he meant it after, and then he drove me home and he was like... Eliot. Y’know, normal and kinda grouchy.” She shrugged.

“Hmm, tough nut to crack,” said Sophie thoughtfully, not even listening as Parker began describing all the ways she knew to crack open a nut, everything from sledgehammers to monkey wrenches being useful for such a thing apparently!

Eliot Spencer was very good at what he did, being tough on the outside, but Sophie knew that he had to be equally as strong on the inside in order to keep himself in check. He didn’t let people in easily, in fact it had taken this long to have him accept that the five of them together cared enough to be some kind of family.

He said nothing about any romantic life or sexual encounters, though Sophie knew he had to be using that Southern boy drawl and charming manner for something other than helping out on cons. Women loved a tough guy with smooth moves, which meant Parker could have competition, though Sophie couldn’t imagine for a moment that Eliot had anything serious going on with any other girl.

“Parker!” she stopped the incessant rambling of her thief friend with a sharp call of her name. “Sweetie, please, that’s not helping,” she advised, putting her hand on hers on the table and patting it, “We need to focus here, and the focus has to be getting Eliot to realise just how much you mean to him”

“So, you do think he likes me?” asked Parker, a strangely warm and fuzzy feeling tickling her insides at the very thought.

She didn’t really do girly and she certainly didn’t do shy, but lately where Eliot was concerned, she was feeling she might just be both, deep down inside. Somewhere inside her was a want to be a girlfriend, to be wanted and loved and all. Getting by on her own was fine, and she could do it, but she didn’t really want to anymore. She cared for this little family that surrounded her, and yet she never could assign Hardison and Eliot to brother status quite as easily as she could make Nate and Sophie her newest foster parents. Now she was understanding why. Guys were complicated, and so were the feelings they could give you sometimes.

“Parker, I can’t promise that Eliot likes you, at least not that way,” said Sophie, mindful of giving the poor girl false hope on this, her first foray into any kind of serious romantic relationship. “What I do know is the signs are good, and if we play this right, it could end well,” she smiled, clapping her hands like an over-excited kid then, “Oh, I feel like Emma Woodhouse!” she enthused, a confused frown settling on Parker’s features at those words.

“Is she one of your aliases?” she asked curiously. "Or someone we’re gonna steal from?” she added, eyes bright with excitement.

Sophie opened her mouth to explain and then realised there really wasn’t much point. She ended up just shaking her head no in answer to both questions before turning the conversation back to the matter at hand.

“Okay, what we need to do is make that green-eyed monster rear its head again,” she said, immediately regretting the use of any kind of metaphor with Parker. “We need to make Eliot jealous again,” she clarified, though the puzzled look on her friends face was still ever present even then.

“How do we do that?” she wanted to know, as oblivious as ever she had been, but then this was much more Sophie’s world than Parker’s own.

“ _We_ don’t. _You_ do,” she told her, reaching out to let down the blonde’s hair and arrange it around her shoulders. “Just... when you’re around other men, be friendly, be flirtatious.” She smiled. “Pretend you like them a little more than you do,” she prompted, waiting for the confusion to fade from her friend’s face.

“Other men?” she checked with a quirk of her head. “So, not Eliot?”

“Everyone but Eliot,” Sophie confirmed with a nod. “With him you act aloof, indifferent, a little cold even. I promise you, it’ll drive him crazy!” She giggled girlishly, enjoying herself altogether too much apparently. “The good kind of crazy,” she was forced to stop and clarify herself then, as Parker looked a little alarmed, “the kind where he realises how much he likes you.”

“Oh, right.” Parker nodded her understanding at last, contemplating her coffee again. “Wouldn’t it be faster if I just kissed him again? ‘Cause that was really good.” She smiled almost dreamily at the memory. “I’ll bet he’s great at sex-”

“One step at a time, Parker,” Sophie cut in fast, patting the younger woman on the shoulder. “Just, one step at a time.”

* * *

It was late in the day when the team were called over to Nate’s apartment for the de-briefing that had gone awry the night before. There were loose ends to be tied up on the last job and such, and so here they all were again sat around the vid screen being talked at by their leader.

Parker was headed back into the discussion from the kitchen with a bowl of dry cereal to munch on. She checked out the seating arrangement and wasn’t sure what to do, noting that Hardison and Sophie had taken up the armchairs leaving the only available space beside Eliot on the couch. She looked to the grifter for help, the two women communicating through strained expressions, until finally Nate noticed.

“Do I even want to know what you ladies are doing?” he asked, looking from Sophie to Parker and back.

“I can’t think what you’re talking about, Nate.” Sophie shrugged her shoulders and shook her head simultaneously, as she looked from him to the thief. “Parker, sweetie, why don’t you just sit down there on the couch and we can get on with this riveting meeting?” she said, with a glance of sarcasm towards Nate.

He overdid an almost-bow of graciousness to her for being so kind and then continued with what he was saying. Parker sat herself down at the far end of the couch, putting her bowl on the arm and leaning in a distinctly opposite direction from Eliot. The hitter noticed, though he didn’t react to it, after all this was Parker and she did some pretty wacky things so he just didn’t worry about it. Sure, she was giving him all the attention before and now it looked as if she’d switched allegiance to Hardison. It didn’t make much sense, but it was fine by him, he didn’t want her to want him in any way at all, of course not.

Hardison noticed Parker’s odd behaviour too, it was hard not to, and he certainly planned on asking what was up with her. He wondered if maybe she and Eliot had a fight, it certainly could’ve happened, after all, he was always calling her crazy or saying there was something wrong with her. Chances were good he didn’t really mean anything by it, but right now Hardison was pretty sure there was some feelings developing between those two and if that was the case, there was something there to get hurt by harsh words these days.

“So, moving into the new job,” nate was saying when the hacker suddenly re-tuned in to the little speech they were getting. “Right now, it’s not exactly clear if this client is legitimate. Sophie and I will go feel her out, and we’ll call the rest of you when we know more,” he explained. “For now, you’re free to go,” he said with a gesture of his hand, before walking out of the room as he so often did at the end of a speech like this.

“I came all the way over here for that?” Eliot grumbled. “Coulda done this on the phone,” he complained as he got up from the couch sharply.

“Man, I got places I could be too,” said Hardison getting to his feet in the next moment. “Before we get another job, I gotta get some me some supplies, get my baby here fixed up,” he said, tapping on the outer case of the laptop that he loved so much.

“You’re going now?” said Parker, scrambling to her feet with much less of her usual cat-like grace. “Where?” she wanted to know as she practically chased Hardison across the apartment.

“To the electronics store,” he said slowly, as if she were a small child with learning difficulties. “Why?” he checked as he pushed his computer into the carry bag, glancing at Eliot and Sophie who looked as bemused as he was right now.

“Can I come?” asked Parker with a kind of urgency that made so sense. “I’m very interested in what you do,” she added with an over the top nod that had Sophie physically wincing.

“You serious?” asked Hardison, clearly confused by the blonde’s sudden interest in his hacking, after all, she’d made it clear she neither got nor cared for his work or for his romantic advances, so this just made no sense whatsoever.

“Parker, honey,” said Sophie, as she came up behind the younger woman and laid a careful hand on her shoulder. “Maybe you should let Hardison go do what he needs to do... alone.”

“But he’s a guy,” Parker over-stressed as she turned to looked at her friend, tipping her head not so subtly towards a baffled Eliot as he gathered his things, “and I wanna go.”

“I ain’t got no problem with it, Sophie,” Hardison assured the grifter, waving away her concern. “It’s cool.” He shrugged as he swung his bag up over his shoulder and encouraged Parker to follow him out - she did so with an over-sized grin on her face.

“It might not be so cool when you realise...” said Sophie more to herself than anyone else, almost forgetting she wasn’t alone.

“When he realises what?” asked Eliot, just a little curious about what the hell was going on here, though he tried not to show too much interest.

Sophie looked from the door to the hitter as he pulled on his jacket ready to leave. A thought occurred to her and she carefully chose her next words.

“He likes Parker, you know?” she said, folding her arms across her chest as she stared his way, “but I’m not so sure she feels the same.”

“Hardison’s not dumb.” Eliot shook his head definitely, before smirking a little. “Even if I do like to tell him he is. He knows what he’s doin’.” He shrugged, sparing Sophie a kind of a wave as he added ‘See ya later’ and headed out of the door.

“What have I done?” Sophie asked herself as she put both hands to her forehead, practically pulling her own hair out as her fingers ran back through her brunette locks.

“Well, I don’t think you’re helping,” said Nate from his place leant in the doorway to the next room, making the grifter feel all the worse as she removed her hands and looked across at him.

“Thanks a lot,” she huffed, reaching for her coat that was flung in the armchair, they had places to be and people to meet after all; the con still mattered.

“They’re not kids, Soph,” said Nate, apparently taking pity on her, if only just a little. “They’ll be fine,” he promised, as he put an arm loosely around her shoulders and walked her to the front door.

“I hope so,” sighed Sophie, not entirely convinced, truth be told. “I really do.”


	5. Chapter 5

Parker had skipped off just moments after she and Hardison left Nate’s apartment. He had thought it was weird she ever wanted to go to the electronics store with him in the first place and so it came as no shock when it turned out he was right and she really wasn’t in the least bit interested. They made it all the way to the van door before she told him she was going to head home instead of going with him to buy computer parts. When he asked why she’d ever said she wanted to go in the first place, she just shrugged her shoulders and turned to walk away.

“Because Eliot was there,” she said simply as she left, and all Hardison could do was stare after her.

It hurt some to think that Parker would use him that way, to maybe make the hitter jealous. He still held a candle in his heart, a wish that maybe one day it would be him and the little blonde thief getting it together. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem that was going to work out, and honestly, he could deal. After all, if Parker was happy and his best bro was happy too, he couldn’t exactly argue with that. Of course, the idea of either of them being happily coupled up, especially together, still seemed a little crazy to the hacker, even if he did believe they both felt something when they kissed that time.

Hardison couldn’t help but wonder on those two and how things might work out. So long as they didn’t tell him what they did behind closed doors and it didn’t hurt the family-vibe in the team, he guessed it was okay for them to like each other. Honestly, he never really thought Eliot was capable of liking anybody too much, and Parker was weird about even hugging people most of the time so getting into a whole dating thing seemed pretty unlikely.

“Can I help you, sir?” the voice of a store clerk brought Hardison from out of his thoughtful daze fast as he chuckled.

“No offence, man,” he waved a hand at the teen, “but I doubt it,” he said with a smirk as he strolled away, determined to now concentrate on why he was here, and not think on Parker or Eliot no more.

* * *

She didn’t wear dresses much, it wasn’t practical for most of the cons they pulled. Today was different, a special day like no other, and she was an absolute vision in white. So often in black, the pale silk fabric lit up her face that was perfectly framed by ringlets of blonde hair. Pretty flowers nestled on top of her head holding the veil there. She was gorgeous, there was simply no other word to describe Parker today, and Eliot couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t him stood opposite her now, waiting for the priest to finish his words and make her a wife. The dark guy who Eliot might call his brother was up there, making Parker his Mrs Hardison, and looking damn pleased about it too. The sun was shining on the soon-to-be-wed couple at this, their beautiful outdoor ceremony in the grounds of some fancy house...

“And if anyone knows of any reason why these two should not be joined,” the priest was saying then, “speak now or forever hold your peace.”

“I got a reason!” the words were spoken loud and clear and yet it took the thirty seconds that followed for Eliot to realise it was his own mouth they’d spilled from.

Somehow he’d gotten from his seat somewhere in the middle of the congregation, into the centre aisle, though he didn’t remember moving. He didn’t see the look of shock or disappointment on Hardison’s face or really hear the words said by all those around him that must’ve included Nate and Sophie to name but two. All Eliot cold see or hear was Parker, her face lighting up with the brightest of smiles as she looked back at him.

“Eliot,” she said softly, his name never sounding better than it did on her lips.

“C’mon, darlin’,” he encouraged her, gesturing for her to come to him and leave all this behind. “You know you want to.”

Nodding her head, Parker was more than willing to throw down her bouquet, gathering up the skirt of her dress and bolting towards the man who would take her away from all this. She threw herself into the hitter’s waiting arms and he willingly pulled her into his embrace. Their lips met in a hungry kiss and the world went away...

Eliot woke up with a start, sitting bolt upright in bed with beads of sweat on his brow. This was why he was better off sticking to that rule of sleeping only 90 minutes a day, more than that led to dreams and some of those he didn’t care for. The one he’d just had scared the hell out of him, though it wouldn’t do to have anyone know that. Pushing his hair back out of his face and then leaning back some on his elbows, Eliot replayed the dream in his mind, a frown settling on his features as he went over it all. The thing that confused him most, was the warm feeling he could still feel inside as he remembered Parker’s smiling face when she’d run into his arms, so overjoyed he was there, so much in love with him it seemed.

“What’s wrong?” asked a voice, a hand creeping onto his shoulder, making Eliot jump so much he almost fell out the bed.

“Parker?” he reacted with evident surprise as he realised not only was she there beside him but actually in his bed, and very much naked.

She was wearing a similar smile to before at the wedding he had witnessed in his mind, though there was an undercurrent of something distinctly sexual in her eyes. His brain was scrambled by her presence here and yet when he opened his mouth to ask her why, the words got stuck in his throat. Honest to God, he didn’t care about the whys and wherefores, even though he knew he should. The feel of her fingers walking across his back, the sight of her skin as the sheet fell away from her body, and the sound of her voice whispering his name was all Eliot knew, as Parker moved closer and pulled him down beside her in the bed.

“Isn’t this what you really want?” she asked him, as they kissed, his answer obvious as he pulled her body on top of his, revelling in this feeling of closeness and...

Thud!

Eliot woke up with a start, finding himself not in bed but on the floor of his room. His limbs were tangled up in the bed sheet and the pain he was in was not specific to his back that had hit the solid floor. Breathing heavy from both the double-hit dream and the shock of taking a tumble, it took Eliot a while to calm himself down and get his bearings. He was really awake this time, though he hadn’t quite believed til he pinched himself and felt the sting of it.

Running his hands over his face that was damp with sweat and then back through his hair that felt the same, Eliot exhaled and tried to let the knot of confusion in his head fade out with the air. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t as simple as that. He’d had dreams and nightmares aplenty in the past, things that were more frightening than most people could even stand to watch in movies and sometimes more erotic than most pornos. This was different, because this wasn’t something he could assign to a memory or a repressed feeling... unless that second one was just what it was.

“No way,” he said to himself as he got up off the floor and threw the sheet back onto the bed. “No frickin’ way,” he said with determination as he stormed off to the shower, determined he was going to put Parker and that screwed up dream he’d just had right out of his head.

Now that was easier said than done.

* * *

“Okay, well, we’ll get back to you as soon as we have any news,” said Nate, standing up shaking the hand of the teams would-be client, nudging Sophie when she seemed oblivious to what was happening.

“Oh, yes,” she said like a sudden reflex, forcing a smile as she took her turn at shaking the offered hand of the young man before her.

The truth was, she really hadn’t a clue what he’d said beyond the first few sentences. Her mind was in a whole other place since the cell phone vibrated in her pocket, summoning her attention. She had been so quick to check the screen, so hoping it might be Parker so she could better instruct her on how to behave both with Eliot and Hardison. She got a surprise that she hoped would be pleasant when she realised it was her boyfriend that had sent her a text. Her smile was a frown in an instant when she read the words written on the screen, and Nate couldn’t fail to notice both her crestfallen expression and lack of concentration from then on.

“Are you going to explain to me what was so distracting that you couldn’t pay our client any attention?” he asked perhaps a little too harshly as he pushed his empty coffee mug away.

“ _Possible_ client,” Sophie snapped back, “and I was paying attention... for the most part,” she said, still staring at her cell as she turned it over and over in her hands.

“Sophie...” his hand on hers stilled the nervous movement and caught her attention at the same time.

“I got a message from my boyfriend.” She shrugged as if it were nothing, not wishing to elaborate as she made a big deal of turning away to put her phone back in her purse.

Nate watched her with suspicion. Either the guy had just done the unthinkable and dumped her via a text message, or he had at least said something else that upset the grifter. It hurt Nate enough to know Sophie was even dating, though he never let on, but seeing her in pain because of this guy might prove too much to bear.

“Nothing to worry about, I hope?” he prodded, making her sigh.

“Nothing for you to worry about, since my personal life is none of your business,” she said, pushing her chair back from the table and getting up to walk away.

It made the mastermind mad that she would shut him out like this, after so long of trying to get him to open up to her. Perhaps Nate should have remembered that he never really had given in and let her get too close, so he could hardly expect her to return the favour.

Sophie was out of the door before Nate caught up to her. She had hoped to get away without him following though she should have known better, hoping against hope she could hold in her emotions til he was gone. So well practised was she at being somebody else it ought to be easy, but nobody wanted to hear ‘we need to talk’ from their lover, especially in such an impersonal way as by text message.

“Sophie!” Nate called after her, and she turned back, knowing he would only pursue her if she bolted. “I... I can’t have you being like this on cons, it’s dangerous if you’re going to be distracted-”

Her incredulous laughter cut off whatever else he might’ve been about to say.

“So nice to know you care, Nathan,” she snapped a moment later, all trace of humour gone, if it were ever there in the first place. “Is that all I am to you? Just a name on your team list?”

Nate wouldn’t rise to her, he couldn’t afford to and settled for doing what he always did, taking his parting shot and walking away before things got any worse.

“Maybe right now you should just concentrate on your relationship,” he told her with a firm nod, “instead of trying to matchmake Eliot and Parker.”

He turned to go then but her words stopped him in his tracks within a second.

“Even if they could make each other happy?” she challenged him, not as much talking about the hitter and the thief as themselves perhaps.

“Even happy relationships can go wrong,” he told her, glancing briefly over his shoulder before striding back towards the bar that was his solace and sanctuary, even now that he was sober 24/7.

“You’ll never know, if you never let them start!” he heard Sophie call too loudly behind him, tears in her voice that he couldn’t bear, not quite drowned out by the clatter of her stiletto heels on the pavement as she hurried away.

Today really wasn’t going well.


	6. Chapter 6

There was a decidedly icy atmosphere in the apartment belonging to Nate Ford, as the Leverage team prepared for there latest con. Hardison had gone through his usual spiel and Nate had decided on what the plan would be for this particular job. Everybody agreed with silent nods and set about getting their things together and preparing for what came next. Through all this, hardly a word was spoken, much less a friendly one, and it was impossible not to notice.

Eliot seemed determined to stay as far away from Parker as possible, not even looking at her on the couple of occasions she had spoken and all other eyes went her way. It was almost as if the hitter considered his team-mate was not there at all. It made Hardison wonder if the little thief’s crush on Eliot made him uncomfortable and therefore even more angry than he usually would be.

As for Nate and Sophie, Hardison figured they must be going through another of their ‘off’ phases where they just got mad at each other and acted all cold. He paid no mind to them since they had history and were best left alone to figure out whatever the hell this thing was on their own. It was different with Eliot and Parker, his brother and the girl he had to admit he had his own little crush on, truth be told. They were as close as family and he didn’t like to see any part of that broken. Unfortunately, poking his nose into other people’s business rarely ended well and he kind of didn’t want to do it now. He might not have said anything at all, if not for the incident that took place next.

“Eliot,” said Parker as she stood behind him and reached a hand to touch his shoulder.

The hitter spun around so fast, he was almost a blur, his expression much more angry than was necessary, even if she had managed to startle him, which would be quite a feat itself.

“What?” he snapped at the blonde, who visibly recoiled, apparently deciding that whatever she might’ve been going to say or do just wasn’t important anymore.

“Nothing,” she muttered, folding her arms defensively as she backed up a step and all eyes watched as the pair of them stared at each other a long moment.

“Then leave me alone,” Eliot advised, striding away and leaving all of the other four members of the team speechless as well as confused.

Before anybody could ask what happened, Parker practically ran into the kitchen, banging all the cupboard doors open and closed again until she found the cereal she was looking for. Hopping up on the counter with her back to the rest of the room, she shoved her hands into the box and began shoving great handfuls into her mouth, crunching loudly on every bite.

“Okay, what the hell is going on there?” asked Hardison, the situation getting the better of him by now.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you,” replied Sophie, looking sadly at the back of Parker and then off in the direction Eliot had walked a moment before.

She hated to see the two of them like this, and wondered how it had ever happened. The last she’d heard, Eliot was knocking a guy into the ground for daring to come near Parker. In the space of less than forty eight hours, he now didn’t seem to care for her company at all, going completely off the deep-end just because she asked for his attention a moment, most likely for something con-related.

“Eliot is being angry and Parker is acting strange,” said Nate softly, mindful of causing any more trouble if he was somehow overheard by either of the people he spoke of. “I really don’t see how things could be more normal, so what is the problem?” he asked in earnest.

Sophie could only look at him with a certain amount of disbelief and near-disgust as she shook her head and walked away. She headed not for Parker to offer comfort and such as the guys watching her might have expected. Instead, she headed into the next room to find Eliot, making her a braver person than most given the bad mood he was clearly in right now.

“Whatever it is, Soph, just don’t even bother,” he said, the moment he felt a presence behind him in the room and recognised it as the grifter thanks to her perfume.

“If only it were that simple,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest, much like he usually did when he was being stubborn as a mule.

Right now he was sitting on the edge of a table by the window of this room that was not really used for anything but storing furniture and things that didn’t have a real home. It was strange when Sophie thought about it, how much this room represented their team in many ways. A place for those to go who had nowhere else. She shook her head free of those thoughts in order to concentrate on the matter at hand.

“You do realise what a child you’re being right now, don’t you?” she asked him, not the least bit phased when Eliot turned angry eyes on her and glared. “Oh come on!” She rolled her eyes. “Snapping at poor Parker for daring to come within three feet of you, storming off into another room and hiding like a baby.”

“You really don’t wanna be having this talk with me right now,” he warned her, his knee jiggling with pent up energy that he had no outlet for at the moment.

There was too much going on his head and he needed out. Eliot realised it would’ve been better if he’d just gone out the front door and driven away, driven for miles until he felt like he could breathe again. Maybe just taken himself home or to the gym and beat on a bag til his fists went numb. Anything was better than this conversation... with the possible exception of watching Sophie perform in Death of a Salesman.

“Eliot,” she said, suddenly beside him, trying to make him look at her though he refused. “I know you’re the tough guy in this team, but you’re not cruel,” she told him. “I know you wouldn’t actually hurt Parker on purpose, so why are you acting this way?” she asked, sure she had at least some idea given the way the little thief had been giving her regular updates on the state on their ‘relationship’ so far, but needing to hear his side now.

Eliot closed his eyes and expelled a breath. He didn’t talk about his feelings, never needed to or wanted to, and yet he knew that this time he might just go crazy if he didn’t tell somebody what was going on. Nightmares he could deal with, memories and fears all balled up into one Technicolor horror movies inside his sleepy mind. He could work through all of that alone, he had to, it came with the job. Still, last night had been so different, so far from anything he’d even let himself think about since high school and Aimee and a world a million miles away from his life now.

“You think Parker has... I don’t now, like a crush on me or somethin’?” he asked, deciding it was as good a place as any to start.

“Honestly?” Sophie checked, as he looked her in the eye, knowing the same as he did that no matter how well she lied she wouldn’t fool him again, not after the last time. “Yes, I think she likes you,” she admitted, not sure whether she was really making matters better or worse but sure at least that he couldn’t hate her for lying and that was something.

“Yep, that’s what I thought,” said Eliot, looking back out of the window.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure if Sophie’s answer made him feel better or worse. If Parker had a crush on him, well, he ought to find it sweet, maybe flattering, but ultimately funny, and ignore it until it went away. Unfortunately, the Powers That Be or whatever the hell was out there seemed to be trying to tell him that there was a chance the feelings here weren’t all on her side of the divide. There seemed to be a good chance that he felt the same, buried down deep with all the other feelings Eliot had been telling himself he didn’t or couldn’t need if he wanted to survive in this world, doing the job that he did.

One thing was for sure, he’d been right about that drive he wanted to take. He needed to be away from here for a while, screw the latest con and the team, he had to go. Eliot needed to clear his head, to think straight, without situations or questions or pretty little thieves that wanted to invade his sleep. He was up on his feet before Sophie could react, and when she did make it into the living room, he was already slamming the front door behind him.

Parker was down from the kitchen counter at this point, in two minds whether she was still mad at Eliot for yelling at her, or wanting to chase after him and find out what was wrong. Sophie made the choice for her as she rushed over, taking hold on the younger woman by the upper arms.

“No, I’ll go,” she said, glancing from the blonde to Nate and Hardison, and then back to add something else in a low whisper. “Put your earbud in,” she advised, waiting just a beat for Parker to nod before grabbing her coat from the hook by the door and chasing out after Eliot.

Nobody was watching when Sophie’s hand slid into her pocket, pulled out her earbud and pushed it into her ear. She had a plan, one that might be called conning your own team by some, if they had a mind to look at it that way. Sophie only hoped that if and when this all came to light later, Eliot might just be too happy to be mad at her. Of course, it was a long shot, but she was willing to try for the sake of two friends happiness.

“Eliot!” she called after the hitter, catching up to him just as he cleared the door onto the street. “Please don’t go off like this,” she urged him. “It’s not helping.”

“Then tell me what is gonna help, Soph?” he asked her too loudly, anger at himself or her or something else entirely bubbling up and boiling over, though she wasn’t scared for even a moment.

“Talking helps,” she tried to advised him, but he only laughed at her, a humourless chuckle she’d sooner not have heard. “You know Parker talks to me about things, it seems to help her.”

“Yeah, well, I ain’t crazy like her,” Eliot pointed out, an edge to his tone that wasn’t necessarily meant to wound but would do anyway, Sophie was sure. “I hate all this and I don’t need it,” he snapped, turning to stride away, as the grifter winced.

She knew Parker had just heard what Eliot had said, probably taken it in the worst possible way it could be meant, even though she was sure the hitter meant no harm. He couldn’t have known Parker was listening in, and Sophie realised what a fool she had been to suggest it as she imagined the pained look that was indeed crossing the little thief’s face.

A little yelp escaped Parker’s mouth as she ripped her earbud out as if it burned her and hopped to her feet, unsure what to do next. Hardison and Nate both turned to peer at her, wondering what had her all wound up like that so suddenly.

“Parker, are you okay?” the mastermind asked her gently.

“Fine,” she said shortly, hurrying away too quickly for that to be true, slamming the bathroom door shut behind her as if to prove herself wrong.

Downstairs, Sophie wasn’t giving up without a fight. She heard Parker take the bud out before she ever got a chance to whisper an apology. Later she would have to fix things on the poor girls end, but right now she still had Eliot to deal with.

“You know for a tough guy, you have a terrible tendency for running away from things,” she told him, catching his arm with her hand.

He stopped but didn’t look back at her, making her walk all the way around him just to see his face. She saw something in his eyes then, emotions he always did is best to hide from anyone who tried to see. Sophie was still sure he liked Parker, though how much she couldn’t precisely guess. She wanted him to tell her, but the phrase ‘blood out of a stone’ ought to have been invented for Eliot Spencer.

“I got dumped, y’know,” she told him, her own eyes dipping to the pavement then. “My boyfriend said... well, it doesn’t really matter what he said, it just matters that he dumped me,” she repeated, finding it just a little easier the second time.

“I’m sorry,” Eliot told her, looking genuine enough, though he’d never met the guy Sophie was talking about and wasn’t hugely surprised that the relationship hadn’t worked out, truth be told.

“Yeah, well, it happens.” She shrugged. “But I’m not denying it hurts,” she went to explain. “I have feelings, Eliot, and they got hurt by this guy because I really did like him,” she told him, the look on her face and tone of her voice suggesting she wasn’t saying this so much to share for sharings sake as she was to encourage him to do the same. “What I’m trying to tell you is that even people like us are allowed to feel, and sometimes it helps to tell someone what it is that you’re feeling instead of bottling it up like worms in a can, raging like an animal, and storming out of the door like a child,” she told him definitely.

“You want to throw a few more analogies in there?” he asked with a smirk that he just couldn’t help, causing her to roll her eyes in return.

They both knew he was avoiding saying whatever he was thinking, and both knew it wasn’t doing any good. She wasn’t going to let this lie and he was going to be driven to the point of insanity if he didn’t just tell her what was up.

“I had some weird dream about Parker, okay?” he said quickly and quietly to the point where she almost didn’t catch what he said at all. “That’s all I’m sayin’ so don’t ask me anymore!” he warned, pointing a definite finger at Sophie, who nodded that she understood.

It took everything she had not to grin at the idea of Eliot dreaming of Parker. After all, he had said ‘dream’ and not nightmare. That combined with how jumpy he was and the fact he’d outright asked her if Parker liked him, well, she had to think it was a real doozy of an encounter he’d seen inside his head!

“I knew you liked her,” she said, allowing herself just a little triumph as she headed back towards the doors.

They had to go back to Nate’s apartment, they had a job to do, and since this was all figured out now, Sophie saw no reason why she and Eliot couldn’t just go. That was perhaps why she was a little startled when his hand landed on her arm and pulled her back a moment.

“You can’t tell Parker, or the guys,” he said definitely, not a question but not a threat either, in fact, if she had to put a name to it, Sophie would say there was desperation in his request. 

“Of course not,” she swore. “I promise, not a word,” she said definitely, miming drawing a zip closed across her lips as they headed back upstairs.

Sophie did her best to repress the smile that wanted to force its way onto her lips, after all, she could use Nate and Hardison not asking questions, and she needed to be sympathetic for Parker who was probably still upset. Besides, the only reason Nate had said she could take point on this Monica Hunter job was because she was supposedly heartbroken over her break-up. Grinning like an idiot was hardly the way to show it!


	7. Chapter 7

Things had returned to a state of almost sickening normality, well, as normal as things ever were, working as the Leverage team did. Bad guys turned good guys, all friends that were closer than some families these days, though if they were related there might be a lot less ups and downs. As it was, with Nate and Sophie struggling with their own feelings, never mind each others, and Parker and Eliot caught between strangled friendship and cold indifference, Hardison was feeling like the fifth wheel on the bumpiest ride of his life for a while there. Now, it was just so normal, so strangely calm amongst the team that he was almost more nervous than he had been a couple of weeks ago.

The day Eliot stormed out of the apartment with Sophie on his tail was definitely a turning point. After he came back, Parker was just so cold to him, a real Ice Queen, which Hardison hadn’t thought she was capable of until then. The three of them just always got along, not right at the very beginning, but for a long time now. There were jokes and burns and flirting and all, it was just good fun, but not that day or for almost a clear week after.

Parker’s cold shoulder towards Eliot didn’t seem to phase him, his usual stoicness just went into overdrive to the point where Hardison was pretty sure he didn’t hear the hitter speak more than three words together unless they were in the middle of a con and he absolutely had to. It went on and on, and yet he daren’t ask either of his friends what was up for two reasons - one, they might actually tell him and he wasn’t sure he could deal if anything had actually happened between them and they gave him the gory details, and two, either one of them could kill him with a pinky finger if they wanted to these days. A brother’s life was worth more than that, he just was not going to get in on this crazy situation.

Then all of a sudden it got worse. One day it was just like a switch got flipped and everything was normal, but not a comfortable happy kind of normal, instead it was a weird and creepy kind of normal. Hardison looked at it like a family photo on a mantle shelf. Sure, everybody was smiling and happy as anything in the picture, but that wasn’t a true reflection of any family unit. Nobody was happy all the time, and there was no way for five people to exist in a home or workplace without getting on each others nerves at least some of the time. It was all fake all the time when they were working a con and that was fine, but became painful to witness when they were kicking back at Nate’s apartment or hanging out in McRorys.

What Hardison didn’t necessarily realise was that Eliot and Parker themselves were all too aware of how awkward they were being and they hated it too. Unfortunately, neither were really equipped to deal with the feelings they had for each other, Parker most especially, and so they had just let everything slide back to a pseudo-normal state in the hopes that’d simple things up. It didn’t.

Sophie had tried talking to Parker about what had happened. She apologised profusely for making things worse but the thief just waved away her concerns like it didn’t matter. She didn’t blame Sophie at all, because Parker knew the grifter was only doing her best to help. All the effort was in vain apparently, because as she ought to have known from the start, this thing with Eliot, whatever it might’ve or could’ve been, just wasn’t going to work out. She just didn’t want to have to talk about it anymore and hoped in time she could forget she ever day-dreamed about what it might be like to have a boyfriend like Eliot, or to have a real steady boyfriend at all actually.

The hitter wasn’t blind and naturally he’d noticed things had changed. He couldn’t believe that Sophie would break her promise and tell Parker the secret of his dreams about the blonde. It had taken a long time, but he did trust the grifter these days, enough to believe she wouldn’t have told when she had promised him otherwise. Still, Parker was different with him again, distant even when she was sat right next to him, almost like she didn’t really want to be there. He could try talking to her about it, Eliot knew that, but he wasn’t much for talking at the best of times and only risked making this worse than it already was if he tried.

After a while, things started to fall back into a familiar routine, like nothing had ever happened, except Eliot knew it had. As with most people, repressing his feelings was making them unravel in his subconscious and so many nights he had woken with a start at the realisation of what his dreams had shown him. Parker was there so often he had lost count, and actually found it more strange these days if she didn’t show up when he closed his eyes at night.

Sometimes he saved her from bad guys and she was grateful, other times he would take her away from some other guy, maybe Hardison, maybe a man wearing the face of the latest mark or victim, it didn’t matter. It was distracting as hell, and more than once Nate had asked him why he looked so tired or out of it. Every time, Eliot brushed away his concern and said it was nothing, unwilling to share his inner thoughts and feelings because it simply wasn’t anyone else’s business but his own.

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t do his job, or that he actually had any problem working with Parker. They did what they were here to do without any major issues, that hadn’t changed at least. Monica Hunter got hers, and evil Erik (with a K) Capston (with a C) had been shown the error of his ways too. The work was in no way the problem, it was the times in between that were making things worse.

For the most part when they were running a con, on the grift, doing what they were here to do, things were normal, too normal, especially when Parker was anything but normal at any other time. Of course, Eliot had to admit, if only to himself, that if there was something wrong with Parker then it was the right kind of wrong, but it didn’t alter the fact that all this normality was driving him as crazy as he’d once suspected she was.

Right now they were alone in Nate’s apartment, him and Parker and Hardison, waiting for the man himself and Sophie to arrive back and brief them on their latest job. With the hacker busy playing around with something on his computer, and Eliot being constantly distracted from his book by Parker climbing on the furniture like a bored cat with no mouse to chase, it didn’t take long before the hitter just had to move, speak, do something other than sit here in awkward silence.

“Anybody hungry?” he asked, standing up and dropping his book onto the coffee table.

“I could eat,” agreed Hardison with a nod. “Thanks, man.”

“Parker?” Eliot prompted when she didn’t answer, finding it odd to have to talk to her upside-down since she was now hung over the back of the couch, almost doing a wonky headstand on the cushions.

“No, thanks,” she answered flatly, and it wasn’t entirely clear if she meant to be cold with him or if she was just being Parker.

“You sure?” the hitter pressed. “I could make your favourite pancakes, if you want?” he offered, watching along with Hardison as she flipped herself over and off the couch with smooth cat-like grace.

“I’m not hungry,” she insisted, before wandering away, barely sparing either man a glance as she went.

With a sigh that escaped without him ever meaning for it to, Eliot headed for the kitchen, muttering to himself.

Hardison was pretty sure he heard ‘There’s something wrong with you’, though this time he was seriously wondering if his buddy was talking to Parker or just to himself. As far as he was concerned, there was something wrong with both of them, and the sooner they figured it out, the better it would be for everybody.

* * *

“Hey, Nate,” said Hardison as he packed up his stuff to leave the apartment, the others having already gone. “Can I talk to you, man?”

“Of course,” the mastermind agreed, picking up his coffee mug from the table. “What’s on your mind, Hardison?” he asked, making a face as he sipped his drink and found it now distinctly cold.

“I think you should to talk to Eliot and Parker,” he said, following the leader as he went into the kitchen to get himself a fresh mug of coffee. “Seriously, man, what they’re doin’ ain’t right.”

“I didn’t know they were doing anything,” said Nate thoughtfully, “but if they are, it’s hardly any of my business, so long as they’re not affecting the job.”

He meant what he said, of course he did, though Nate also knew that he was at least partially lying. He shouldn’t meddle in the personal lives of his team, especially if it wasn’t interfering with their work. He’d pushed too hard with Sophie and almost damaged his friendship with her beyond repair. As it was they were on shaky ground, not least since her SOB of a boyfriend dumped her. Where Eliot and Parker was concerned, he’d love to tell them what to do, try his best to make them happy and all. Nate knew it was dumb, but too often he found himself feeling that familiar glow of fatherhood at team meetings, when he and Sophie were getting along and trying to break up squabbling and sniping amongst the three ‘kids’. So lost in thought was he at this point, he was hardly aware that Hardison was still there, still talking.

“...and it ain’t right,” he insisted. “Y’all seen how they are together, like way too normal, as if they was pod people or something.”

“Pod people?” Nate echoed with a look that said he thought that was going a little too far. “C’mon, Hardison, Eliot and Parker are fine. Besides, what good would me talking to them do even if they weren’t?” he asked, sipping at his fresh coffee and sighing with delight as it hit the spot that he no longer let alcohol touch. “Anyway, I would think you’d be happy about them not getting too close. Don’t you like Parker yourself?” he asked, an eyebrow raised as he headed back to the couch and parked himself.

“Yeah,” Hardison admitted with a nod as he came to join him, diving over the back of the sofa and landing beside him, apologising with a look when he realised he almost made the older guy spill his drink in his own lap. “Yeah, I like Parker, but she don’t see me that way, and that’s cool, y’know?” He shrugged. “I want the girl to be happy is all, and the more I see her and Eliot bein’ the way they are with each other, more I think they’re fakin’ the normal that they ain’t, just so they don’t have to deal with what they is.”

“And what are they exactly?” asked the mastermind curiously, even though he wished he didn’t care.

“Head over heels in deep scary love, bro,” said Hardison definitely, which worried Nate to no end, because unfortunately he really believed that the hacker might be right.


	8. Chapter 8

Sophie was gone. Not dead and gone as she appeared to be at the fake funeral the team pulled days before, but gone from Boston, perhaps even from the States by now, and Parker wasn’t handling it well. By now, the thief thought she was used to losing family; after all, she’d been bounced from one foster family to the next from a very young age, never knowing her real parents or anything. As an adult, she had mostly run alone, working within teams occasionally, but only briefly. The Leverage team was her first real family, though it wasn’t until one of them was gone that she’d totally realised that.

Breaking up for a while had been hard, between the two David jobs, and the break from LA until they met up again in Boston, but this was different. When she was away from the team they were all apart and she could kid herself that she never had a family. Now one person was missing and it was painfully obvious, even after just one day. Nate was already drinking more coffee than before, wishing for booze but not giving in yet. Hardison was too quiet, too engrossed in his computer game, even beyond what he usually was. Right now Parker wasn’t actually paying any mind to Eliot, which was how he managed to pull her usual trick and sneak up on her.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked as he appeared at the top of the spiral staircase.

Parker had been sat up on the other floor with her legs dangling through the rails. She wasn’t afraid of falling, of course not, the distance was negligible to her compared with the fifty or a hundred storey buildings she would throw herself off at a moments notice.

“I’m fine,” she said flatly, though she looked far from it.

If Eliot didn’t know better he’d think the little thief had been crying, but that seemed unlikely somehow. It was Parker, she didn’t really do emotions as a general rule, any more than he did. Maybe that was their problem in a lot of ways, but now didn’t seem like a good time to think about it.

“Parker,” he said as he dropped down to sit beside her, a little more wary about the height they were at than she was. “I know you miss Sophie, we all do, but we’re still here,” he reminded her, mindful of saying too much more than that.

Things still weren’t right between them, and he almost hadn’t bothered chasing her up here, but Eliot knew she was upset and he couldn’t just leave her. He had hoped Nate or Hardison would seek her out and check she was okay, to save him having to worry, but he figured the mastermind was pre-occupied by his own loss that felt much bigger than everyone else’s right now, and the hacker probably didn’t know how to broach the topic with the thief that was hard enough to figure at the best of times.

“Why do you bother being nice to me?” she snapped, pulling Eliot from his thoughts and making him look across at her strangely. “Seriously, why do you care?” she asked again, hugging the upright beside her that held the banister rail in place, practically glaring.

“We’re a team, Parker,” he reminded her. “Of course I care. We all care,” he added, ever-mindful of saying too much.

The oddest smirk came to Parker’s lips then as she looked away. Sure, she didn’t know how to verbalise the way she felt about Eliot either, she could hardly blame him for being so weird around her, but she was still hurt by what he said before. It was weeks ago, she ought to be over it. Comments made about her state of craziness or similar never bothered her before, whether they were said in jest or genuinely meant to wound. She didn’t let stupid things like words harm her, and yet when Eliot had snapped about her being crazy and said he hated the situation they’d landed themselves in, it had stung as if someone had physically struck her. It took forever for it to fade, and just when she thought she was okay, some other nasty feeling had started bubbling up in her stomach. She wanted to ask Sophie about it, but the grifter was gone before she ever got the chance. The only other person she felt she could really talk to before was Eliot, but with everything between them so complicated lately, she just felt so a  
lone… again.

“You seemed to be caring a whole lot for Mikhail,” she said, without looking at him.

Eliot honestly didn’t know how to take that. He couldn’t deny he had spent some time with the other hitter, but there was really only one reason Parker would be bothered by that and that meant venturing into the very territory he was trying to avoid with her, now more than ever.

“Why would you bring her up?” he said awkwardly. “I thought we were talking about Sophie,” he reminded her, wishing to change the topic to absolutely anything else.

“I don’t know.” Parker shrugged, a complete lie because she did know why, she had a morbid curiosity about what exactly had happened between the two hitters that just wouldn’t go away. “You did sleep with her, right?” she said outright, as was her way, and Eliot reacted with the usual shock and disgust that people always did when she asked such direct questions.

“Parker! You don’t ask people stuff like that!” he told her, looking annoyed, but she just shook her head, unable to see what his problem was.

“Why not?” she shrugged. “It’s just sex,” she stated plainly, and yet even though she was sure what she said was true, and that none of this ought to matter at all, deep inside she knew it did.

“Because...” Eliot began as if he was going to give her some explanation, but the second his gaze met hers, he changed his mind. “You just don’t ask, okay?” he said firmly, looking away again.

Parker didn’t know what to make of this, not just the way Eliot was acting but the way she felt about it. She knew she liked him in a different way to anybody else. It ought to be simple enough, and if it was just a physical attraction it would be, but this was way more than lust alone. That she could have dealt with, because she was pretty sure, even though he often called her crazy or said there was something wrong with her, Eliot did like her enough to have sex with her. She had a body that guys went for, and Sophie had said she was pretty before, so that had to be true - Sophie wouldn’t lie. Sex would be the easy part, just like it had been for Eliot and Mikhail, but that wasn’t all there was to it.

Ever since that kiss that was supposed to mean nothing, Parker felt like her eyes had been opened up to Eliot in a whole new way. Now whenever she saw him, she was getting these fluttery feelings, like butterflies in her stomach or something. When he smiled at her a certain way, it was like time slowed down and nobody else was in the room anymore, except them. She was having a tough time dealing, but with Sophie’s help she’d managed for a while. Now here was this new feeling bubbling within her, ever since she caught sight of Eliot and Mikhail getting friendly. It was all hot and angry, and yet sad at the same time. If it was something physical and real, Parker thought it would be lava, only maybe green in colour instead of orange...

Eliot sat beside Parker, wondering what the hell he was supposed say next. Somehow he didn’t like her knowing that he slept with Mikhail, not that sleeping had happened at all, but now wasn’t the time to wonder of semantics. It’d been a good long while since he’d been with a woman that way, and she was one hell of a woman. He didn’t have to hold back with her because she gave as good as she got, and there was no denying they’d both had a real good time. The problem was that every time he closed his eyes, any time his mind got all fogged up by passion, it was Parker’s face he was seeing, imaging her body pressed up against his rather than the actual woman he was holding onto. There was no way he was going to admit that, obviously, but having Parker talk to him about his liaison with the other hitter wasn’t helping at all, hence the reason he’d snapped at her so harshly.

Shaking off the awkwardness, or trying to at least, Eliot tried to get back to his original objective. Whatever he was feeling or Parker might’ve been feeling before, right now she was upset over Sophie and he wanted her to cheer up. It was what he’d come up here for in the first place and so far he was doing a lousy job of helping.

“So, you want somethin’ to eat?” he ventured, knowing that was at least something he could do for her that wouldn’t get too complicated, besides he did worry about her just eating junk or maybe forgetting to eat at all sometimes when she was upset.

“Pancakes?” she asked, turning to peer at him from behind her hair, a grin on her face that never failed to make him smile too.

“Yes, pancakes.” He rolled his eyes, as he got to his feet and gestured for her to follow. “If that’s what you really want, darlin’,” he said, as they descended the stairs.

Parker was practically skipping as she followed him across the apartment, past Nate who she spared a grin for, and into the kitchen. Pulling herself up onto a stool by the counter, she put her elbows on the worktop and rested her chin on her hands. She loved watching Eliot cook, almost as much as he loved making the food, she reckoned.

“Bet you didn’t make pancakes for Mikhail,” she said thoughtfully as Eliot’s hand stilled over the ingredients and he looked across at her with a warning in his eyes.

“Parker.” Her name was all it took to make her know he really didn’t a want to start on that train of conversation again.

“What?” she asked, all innocent smile as she stole a piece of strawberry from the container he’d just retrieved from the fridge and popped it into her mouth.

Eliot just shook his head and went back to the pancake batter. Sometimes Parker was everything he hated about women, and other times, absolutely everything he loved. He’d never known such a contradiction as her. She acted like she had no idea what she was saying or doing wrong half the time, but Eliot honestly doubted if that were true. She was smarter than she let on, and she felt more than she admitted, he was sure.

As he glanced up then, he found her staring despondently at something further along the counter top. He realised when she picked it up and twirled it around her fingers that it was a bracelet left behind by Sophie.

“Hey,” he said, getting her attention, “I know Sophie being gone is tough on you right now,” he told her, “but we’re still here,” he promised. “I'm still here.”

“Yeah.” Parker nodded, finding her smile once again. “I know.”

* * *

It was late in the day. Hardison had headed home some time before and Parker had disappeared too, though nobody had really seen the going of her. The guys didn’t worry, since she seemed to be somewhat out of her deep funk and smiling last anybody had seen her. She was going to be okay, they all were, it was just going to take time.

Nate had assured Eliot he could leave too, but the hitter insisted in clearing up after himself in the kitchen. The truth was, he was the only one whoever cooked here and therefore liked to have the utensils and such just where he wanted them. Nate didn’t seem to mind, he was on the stool by he counter with his coffee, just where Parker had been earlier, though she had been cheerier as she tucked into pancakes and talked about happier times before Sophie left them.

Eliot had his hands in the sink, fishing out a teaspoon lost in the soapy water, and then encountering a knife he’d forgotten about.

“Damn!” he swore as he pulled his hand out fast and inspected his finger that was oozing blood, looking much worse than it really was since his hands were wet with water, diluting the redness that ran down his hand.

“And here I was thinking you knew how to handle knives?” noted Nate, tossing a cloth to the hitter so he could wipe his hands, whilst the mastermind went for the first aid kit.

“Can’t seem to handle much lately.” Eliot cursed, more to himself than to Nate, though he heard and shot him an odd look as he flipped open the lid on the box he’d grabbed and fished around for a suitable band aid.

“We talking more about the knives or the women in your life?” he asked, without missing a beat, feeling the glare Eliot was sending his way like a blow-torch to the side of his face.

“Speaking of women,” he said, shifting the subject with ease. “How you holding up without Sophie?” he asked, his tone and expression when Nate glanced his way making it clear he didn’t want to have the other talk it seemed he’d been planning.

“I’ll live,” he replied with a wry smile, no more comfortable than his team-mate was with this kind of conversation.

Talking about feelings was for women, that’s what guys were supposed to think, but both Eliot and Nate knew it wasn’t true. Talking about what was on their mind might actually help them to make sense of what was going on, but it didn’t come easy, and neither wanted to be the first to give.

“So, how’s Parker doing?” asked Nate, sitting back down on the stool and watching as Eliot bound up his finger with sticking plaster. “I saw you two talking before and she seemed all the happier after.”

“She’ll be okay.” Eliot shrugged, “She’s missing Sophie too, I was just trying to cheer her up some. She’s no use to the team if she’s moping, right?” he said, turning his back on Nate then to finish putting away the utensils and such he’d been dealing with earlier.

“And that’s all you’re worried about?” asked Nate, pouring himself another coffee. “Just how Parker performs on the team?”

“You’re pushing, Nate,” said the hitter through gritted teeth, the cupboard door closing with more force than it required and making a loud bang.

“Hey, I’m just trying to keep this team on an even keel,” he pointed out, hands raised in mock-surrender as Eliot glanced over his shoulder. “We already lost Sophie,” he continued with a suddenly serious expression that the hitter could understand. “If things are strained between you and Parker-”

“They’re not strained, we’re fine,” he assured the older man, wiping non-existent marks from the counter top, never meeting Nate’s eyes. “We just... we had a misunderstanding but it’s cool now.”

Nate’s hand shot out and landed on Eliot’s arm, stopping him from continuing his obviously pointless task. The two men looked at each other properly then, and perhaps the mastermind ought to have been more afraid, because after all the guy he had a hold on had a reputation for killing people for less than what he was doing right now. Of course, Nate knew better than to believe everything he heard or read, and he never had been scared of any of his team, not in the beginning and especially not now.

“I’m not blind, Eliot.” He shook his head. “I know you like her,” he said, the look in his eye challenging the hitter to argue if he dare.

“Sure, I like her.” He shrugged, a smile curving his lips. “And I like Hardison, and I like Sophie,” he continued on. “Hell, some days I even like you,” he finished with a real grin as he pulled his arm away and turned back to the sink, despite the fact he had nothing left to do there.

“Yes, you care about the team.” Nate nodded to himself, not finding the joke at all amusing when he was sure Eliot understood what he really meant. “But you care about Parker in a different way,” he said, not a question but a statement because he was already sure it was true.

Sophie had started this, made Nate aware that something was going on, but he hadn’t really believed it. Then Hardison had said he would step aside if he thought Parker and Eliot could make each other happy. That was a big deal, not a decision he was likely to have taken lightly. Today, Nate had seen what the other two had already noticed. There really was something there between his hitter and his theif, some odd connection, certain looks and touches that gave them away. They liked each other, as much as they were capable of liking anybody that way, and he wasn’t about to let this slide by without being properly dealt with.

Of course, what neither Nate or Eliot had noticed was that when Parker disappeared earlier, it hadn’t been out of the front door. She was still in the building, technically still in the apartment, though nobody could see her. In search of comfort, the kind of which not even Eliot could be right now, she had sought refuge in a familiar place. This was how she came to be lying in the air-ducts above the kitchen, peering through the slats of the vent at her team-mates as they talked.

She hadn’t meant to be listening in, but the moment she heard her name mentioned, Parker just couldn’t help herself. Nate thought there was something between her and Eliot, which was a surprise since he was usually smart in every topic except relationships, Sophie always said so anyway. Initially, Parker had wanted to get away then, sure she would hear Eliot say something she wouldn’t want to know, something about her being crazy and him hating having to be near her, like that time before when he got mad at Sophie for cornering him.

It was a suprise to hear him say he liked her, that he cared for the whole team, even though she knew it was true. Eliot talked about feelings even less than Parker herself ever wanted to. If he was about to admit secrets she knew she ought to leave, and yet Parker felt as if she were stuck to the spot by glue or gravity or something else she had no control over. Her ears were taking in the two voices below her with a rapt attention, as Eliot leant on the counter opposite Nate and let out a long breath.

“Look, I don’t even know what it is with me and her lately,” he admitted. “We had that dumb kiss that wasn’t supposed to mean anything, and then she goes and starts acting like she has some crush on me.” He shook his head, immediately regretting it as he was forced to push his hair back out of his eyes. “I started dreaming about her,” he admitted, looking at his own hands on the counter top and never at Nate who quirked his head to one side.

“Dreams?” he echoed. “What kind of dreams?” he checked, until Eliot met his eyes and gave him a look that made his meaning very clear. “Oh, dreams,” he said with particular emphasis that Parker didn’t really understand.

Truth was, she didn’t so much care what kind of dreams Eliot was having. Just the fact she was in them made her feel that same giddy, girly feeling she’d been getting a few weeks ago after her first and only kiss with the hitter. Silently cheering, Parker felt an all-over warm glow, knowing that Eliot really might like her that way, the green lava feeling from before fading away without a moments pause.

“Y’know, Eliot,” Nate was saying then, though the thief in the air-ducts was barely listening anymore, “and I know I might regret saying this but, if you do like Parker, maybe you should try telling her,” he suggested.

“Yeah, ‘cause that’ll end well.” Eliot rolled his eyes, as he muttered something about needing to go and walked away, right out of the apartment.

Nate watched him go and let out a sigh. It was times like this when he wished he’d never given up drinking!


	9. Chapter 9

“Listen to me, Parker, you’ll be fine,” Sophie assured her via the phone, as the thief sat in her little hiding place waiting for further reassurance that this job would go okay. “Just don’t say anything and trust the diamond,” the grifter told her, having already offered up an emergency dress and heels combo for the blonde to wear as she played the part of Hardison’s girlfriend to catch a jeweller that robbed his own truck.

“Okay, I can do that,” she said, with more confidence than she felt, as she went over the idea in her head one more time and tried to breathe properly.

“Anyway, how’s everything else going?” asked Sophie, unable to help her curiosity. “How are things with Eliot?” she checked, biting her lip the very next moment and wondering if she ever should have let the question in her mind slip out of her mouth.

“He’s fine, we’re fine,” said Parker a little too quickly, and after a brief pause changed her mind. “Okay, so we’re not exactly fine, but...” she craned her neck to peer back over her shoulder and ensure that one of the guys, but most especially Eliot, was not going to overhear her at all. “Sophie? What does it mean when a guy dreams about you?” she asked with a smile on her face that she just couldn’t help right now.

Parker was still feeling kind of giddy at the prospect of a guy liking her so much that she was haunting his sleep, but she was a little worried that this wasn’t as positive as she maybe thought it was. She needed advice, specifically from Sophie, since she seemed to know so much about relationships and was the only woman Parker had ever really been close to. Sure, she messed up that one time which had led to her hearing things she’d rather not have, but she was still more use than any of the guys in Parker’s life.

“He told you about that?” gasped Sophie on the other end of the line, making Parker frown some at her tone and choice of words.

“He told _you_ about that?” she checked, pretty sure that was what the grifter meant.

“Um, no,” Sophie floundered. “Well, sort of,” she admitted, “but Parker if he told you then-”

“He didn’t,” she cut in to explain. “He told Nate, but I overheard and now... Well, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” She shrugged pointlessly since she could not be seen by the woman she was talking to.

There was a long pause in which Parker almost wondered if Sophie had hung up on her completely or just lost signal on her cell maybe. Just as she was about to ask if her friend was still there, she spoke.

“I can’t tell you that, sweetheart.” She sighed. “I only wish I could but all I did when I tried to help was make matters worse,” she said sadly. “I really think you should handle this on your own, Parker,” Sophie advised the younger woman, hating that she was once again leaving her unassisted but feeling just a little better about what she said next, “but the job, now that I can help with,” she assured her. “The diamond will do all the work for you, trust me on that,” she said definitely.

“Say nothing, trust the diamond,” Parker intoned like a good student who had learnt well.

At least focusing on the job would stop her wondering too much on how to deal with Eliot. Besides, for now she had to pretend to be in love with Hardison... again. She found it strange that Nate always seemed to put the two of them together when it came to playing a couple. He had to know she saw the hacker like a kind of brother and nothing else. He was one of the coolest geeks she knew, no question on that, but she wouldn’t want to get any closer to him, in a sex way or anything. That would just be too weird.

Shaking herself from thinking too much, Parker crept out of the kitchen and up the stairs to Nate’s room. At the back of the closet, as promised, she found Sophie’s emergency mini-dress, and high-heeled shoes named after some guy the thief herself had never even heard of. Holding the dress up in front of her, she looked into the mirror on the back of the closet door and frowned. It wasn’t really her, she didn’t dress this way, and she couldn’t help but recall the other times she’d gone on the grift like this. Memories of finger breaking and fork stabbing made panic bubble up inside her, but this would be different, she told herself. She would have Nate in her ear, and Hardison and Eliot wouldn’t be far away. No harm would come to her, and if she followed Sophie’s advice, maybe no harm would come to the mark either, not of the snappy or stabby variety at Parker’s own hand anyway.

‘Say nothing, trust the diamond,’ she reminded herself, as she tossed the fancy dress and shoes on the bed and set about removing the access cover to the airduct above her head. She had to go get the diamond from its hiding place first!

* * *

“What’s taking so long?” asked Eliot, irritated as always by things not going exactly as planned. “I thought she was right behind us,” he said into his ear, as Hardison shook his head.

Seriously, just dropping a fork in front of the hitter could set him off sometimes. They’d been getting into position in this bar/pool hall for all of two minutes, and he expected Parker to just be there. Maybe he forgot how nervous she could be on the grift, or maybe he was just worried about her. Yeah, that made sense to Hardison, because he would probably be nervous for her himself, were it not for the fact he was needing to concentrate on his own performance right now.

“Cool down, Eliot,” Nate advised, just as the sound of high-heeled shoes came into each of the guys’s ears.

“I’m here, stop freaking out,” said Parker, taking a deep breath as she descended the stairs.

The con was on, and the last thing the thief needed was a bunch of voices in her head. Nate told the other two to be quiet as he advised Parker on her words and actions both. Honestly, she didn’t hear much, just kept repeating Sophie’s words of wisdom over and over, until she had the mark hooked. When she led him through to where Hardison and Eliot were playing pool, she barely spared the hitter a glance, concentrating on the part she was playing, Hardison’s girlfriend. She therefore failed to notice the way Eliot’s eyes raked over her body, taking in the curves and shapely legs usually hidden but now entirely prominent in a tight mini-dress and heels.

Thankfully, the hitter was not so distracted that he could not do his job, and things ran fairly smoothly, not counting Hardison over-selling his part. The Ice Man was going to ruin this whole thing for them, and everybody seemed to know it, except for the hacker himself.

The moment the mark and his Russian back up left the room, Nate beckoned the team over and told Hardison they needed to have a talk about his behaviour at some point. Eliot couldn’t help but smile at the idea of their leader playing Daddy to the hacker, it did amuse him.

“Whatever, man.” He rolled his eyes, “I totally got the guy hooked. It’s all good,” said Hardison, cool as ever, not at all concerned that he might have screwed up apparently. “Hey, Parker. You want a ride home?” he offered as she stumbled a little in her heels behind the guys.

“Sure, thanks,” she agreed, taking the shoes off altogether as she followed him out.

Nate couldn’t fail to notice the way Eliot’s eyes strayed to her figure as she left the bar. The poor little thief seemed oblivious to the hitter’s feelings, but then it was very easy to think that perhaps he didn’t have any. Eliot was hardly the caring and sharing type, though Nate was pretty sure all the necessary emotions existed within.

“You know, as much as you might think it’s... I don’t know, not masculine?” he struggled to find the word he wanted as he looked in the same direction as his friend. “You could just tell her how you feel about her,” he suggested, watching as Eliot’s eyes swivelled to meet his, incredularity present there.

“Yeah, great plan, Nate.” He shook his head, evidentially mocking. “Stick to cons, you’re pretty good at those,” he advised as he made to leave.

Of course, those words came easy, pretending he didn’t care and like Nate was an idiot, but it wasn’t true. Eliot did care about this situation he’d landed up in and a part of him did think maybe he should just act as he normally would, on instinct. Actions spoke louder than words and there were easy enough ways to show Parker how he felt if telling her wasn’t going to work. With any other girl, he’d have just done it by now, but she was so different, and that had to be at least some of the reason why he felt so different about her.

Men that put the moves on Parker ended up injured, and telling her in words that he liked her would probably only serve to make her laugh at him, which Eliot would not stand for. Besides, even if they did get it together somehow, throwing the team dynamic all out of whack wasn’t going to help anybody.

It almost made Eliot wish Sophie was here right now. She was usually better at handling this kind of thing, usually better at handling Parker too, when she wasn’t busy running out of the door. Maybe it was time for that talk she’d offered him a while back, after all, that was what phones were made for.

* * *

“C’mon, Eliot, you’re not scared, are you?” asked Sophie, grateful she was on the other side of the world and talking into a phone rather than stood before the hitter right now.

“Seriously?” he asked her, more of a growl than a word as he paced the ground beside his truck, agitated as anything by this whole situation, and so far the grifter he thought might help him was just making it worse.

“I know you can take a hit, a shot even,” she admitted, “but you don’t seem so brave when it comes to sharing how you’re feeling.”

“I don’t know what I’m feeling,” he admitted with a tired sigh. “Y’know, Parker is... she’s hot, and she’s funny sometimes, and I care about her, obviously, but...” He shook his head, pointless since Sophie could not see him but somehow she could imagine how frustrated he looked just from the sound of his voice.

“Eliot, stop torturing yourself,” she advised. “You know Parker likes you, I told you before,” she explained, pre-empting the fact he was going to cut in and continuing quickly, “and before you interrupt, if she’s been a little off with you since we last talked about this, that could be my fault... but she does still like you,” she insisted. “If you like her too, for heavens sake just tell the girl before we all die of old age, because she won’t make the first move on her own!” 

Through her rambling on, Sophie would not let Eliot interrupt for a second, in spite of the fact he was trying to do so for good reason. Of course, she had no idea that Nate had just dropped Parker off and she was now stood mere feet from Eliot’s side, grabbing necessary items from the back of his truck so they could continue with their latest con.

By the time he managed to get Sophie off the line, thanking her for her help (if that was indeed what she had given) the thief couldn’t fail to have noticed he was talking to someone significant on his cell.

“Who was that?” she asked curiously.

Parker accepted Eliot’s answer when he told her it was the cable company, even though that made no sense. The issue now was the con, and whatever else they needed to figure out would come later, so they both thought as they slid into their white bio-haz suits and headed into the building.

* * *

Just as soon as Parker saw Hardison’s car she said she was riding home with Eliot, without her brain even really processing what that meant. Being trapped in the small space that was the front of the hitter’s truck, alone with him, she really hadn’t thought about how she was going to handle it until it was too late to turn back.

They had been so comfortable around each other when the team first got back together here in Boston. Comfortable silence worked, or they could talk a little without any problem. Sure, he said there was something wrong with her at times, and she made faces when he got mad about the smallest and dumbest things, but that was just the way they were, and it worked. It had changed so much from that day when she first laid her lips on his. Eliot hadn’t known what hit him, and Parker was similarly afflicted despite the fact the action was all her own doing.

Weeks later, things had settled down to a point where they seemed almost normal to everybody else and even to each other for the most part, but the ability to read minds might have been handy for these two to really figure things out. Verbalising what they were feeling did not come easy for the hitter or the thief. Both had a tendency to bottle up whatever was bothering them until it came out in an explosion of punches, kicks, fork-stabbing, and running away. Avoidance tactics worked better, or so Parker decided.

“I can’t believe Hardison bought that stupid car.” She laughed, glad when Eliot joined in and chuckled himself.

“Yeah, he’s going way over the top on this character.” He shook his head, a little more serious as he considered how dangerous that might be. “Let’s just hope the Ice Man doesn’t do us more harm than good.”

“If anyone’s gonna screw up the grifting, it’s me,” Parker lamented, reaching down to pull off her shoes and almost hitting her head on the dash in the process. “These heels are killing me already, I don’t know how Sophie does it.”

“Hey, you’re doin’ good,” Eliot insisted kindly, happy to have to keep his eyes on the road as he felt Parker staring at him now. “I know this stuff isn’t easy for you, but you are, you’re doin’ good.”

“Thanks,” she replied, pulling one ankle up onto her opposite knee so she could rub her foot that was hurting, inadvertently making her already short dress ride up even higher on her thighs.

Eliot made the mistake of glancing from the road to see what she was doing and immediately regretted it. Parker wasn’t completely oblivious to the action and very nearly asked him what was up, before thinking better of it. Sometimes she really thought Eliot liked her as much as she thought she liked him. Despite her usually straight-forward style of asking outright what she wanted to know, those words just stuck in her throat. It was fear, she assumed, that he would laugh at her and say there was something wrong with her if she thought he’d ever want her that way. Of course, she didn’t necessarily need words. She could kiss him like before, she certainly got a response she liked then. Of course, after that, both she and Eliot had told Hardison it all meant nothing. It was a total lie. She and the hacker making out on the David job, now that was fake as the home-made statues themselves had been, but not with Eliot, that had been something else entirely.

This was a perfect opportunity, Parker realised, as Eliot stopped the car at the next set of traffic lights that signalled red. She dropped her foot down off her knee and seriously considered leaning over and planting a kiss right on his lips, just to see what he would do...

“Which way?” he asked, snapping her from deep thoughts and her imagination that had started to run wild.

“Huh? What?” she replied, looking around.

“Which way do I turn here? To get to your house?” he repeated with a little more explanation of what he meant and a lot more over-pronunciation as if she were slow.

“Oh.” Parker shook her head, unclipping her seat-belt and picking up her shoes so fast he barely realised what she was doing.

In point of fact, Eliot had actually started to let the truck roll forward through the now green light when Parker reached to open the door and throw herself out.

“This is close enough,” she gabbled and then she was gone, the truck door slamming behind her.

If not for the light scent of jasmine left behind in the space beside him, Eliot might have believed she’d never been there at all.


	10. Chapter 10

Parker was falling, from a hundred storeys high, free-wheeling, flying, as she loved to do... and then it was different, something was wrong. The rope wasn’t going to stop her before the ground that was coming up too fast. A shot of pure panic flew through her body, like a lightning bolt come to strike her down. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact, the concrete that would end her fall, her journey, her life... but it never came.

“You okay, darlin’?” that familiar comforting voice asked as strong arms held her body close and safe.

Parker didn’t have words to say as she allowed her eyes to open and stared up into the sparkling blue orbs of her saviour. Eliot always caught her when she fell, she ought to have trusted that this time would be no different. A smile curved her lips to match his own as she pushed herself up and brought her lips to his.

The falling began again, the scene around them flipping on its axis as the ground went out from under them, this time in the best possible way. Like flying through white fluffy clouds, Parker was in heaven as Eliot held her close and kissed her til she couldn’t breathe and yet didn’t care at all.

When they made their landing it felt as if it was straight into one of those clouds they’d been floating amongst, as they laid down together. There were no words, only kisses that grew in heat, as fingers sought out skin, and for the first time in forever Parker felt like she was losing control without caring about it. Usually she would be afraid to let go in such a way, but this was Eliot and he always kept her safe. Besides, nothing had ever felt this good, not ever in her whole life.

Where their clothes went, she wasn’t sure, she didn’t really recall the removal of them but before she knew what was happening they were gone, and the world was getting fuzzier in the best way. There was a moan that she belatedly realised had escaped her own throat as Eliot’s lips returned to her own. Just when she thought this couldn’t get any hotter, any better...

Parker woke up fast, eyes darting around the room though no other part of her body shifted.

It was still dark outside, though the sun ought to be appearing any time soon she realised as she glanced at the clock. She wasn’t sure at first why she couldn’t stop breathing so fast or why her heart was pounding at a mile a minute, then she remembered her dream and a grin came to her lips.

If she really thought that was how things would turn out if she kissed Eliot in his truck the other day, she totally would have gone for it without a moments pause! Of course, she hadn’t known that and time ran out on her before she really had a chance to consider whether it was a good idea or not. It was strange for Parker to have to think too hard on things like this. She was usually action girl, do now and worry later about any consequences that might come up. When it came to relationships she really hadn’t a clue and so diving in as she would from a fifty storey building was way more scary than any rappelling task she’d ever undertaken.

Fairytales stated that dreams always came true, but Parker didn’t believe in those. As far as she could tell, happily ever afters couldn’t really exist, else the Leverage team wouldn’t have to exist to fix everything. Of course, if she and the team were able to bring fairytale endings for their clients, then she and Eliot ought to be able to get one for themselves.

Thinking too hard about all this was just giving Parker a headache and definitely preventing her from going back to sleep so she gave up even trying. Getting out of bed, she pulled the comforter off the bottom and wrapped around her shoulders, headed for the shower. Then she needed fresh air and breakfast, she decided.

Maybe she would go up on the highest roof she could find and watch the sun come up, that always helped her mood. Unfortunately, Parker wasn’t really trusting anything to get fixed all on its own right now. She figured if she wanted to work anything out with Eliot, she was going to have to do the talking thing, even though they both hated it. It was that or try to jump his bones and see where that got her. The thought made Parker sigh as she recalled her dream and how good it had felt to be with him that way. Surely the reality couldn’t feel as good as what her mind had conjured up whilst she slept, but damn if the thief didn’t want to find out!

It blew her previous plan out of the water. For a while there she had considered just running out on the whole sorry situation before it got any more tangled and confused, but that just wasn’t an option, she knew that even before today, she realised, as she headed out, and before long was up on a high-rise with a box of cereal in her hand. The fresh air felt good against her skin, the wind whipping her hair in all directions as she settled herself near the edge, facing east so she could watch the sun make its appearance - she was just in time.

Parker liked Chicago, though she wondered if it was so much the town she loved as the team and the work they did here. Hanging out at Nate’s apartment was comfortable and familiar, even now with Sophie gone and things all a little weird between herself and Eliot. Running away would ruin that, and besides the grifter had tried it and so far it was only making things worse. Nate was even meaner than when she was around and Parker worried a little more every day that he’d be back on the booze before long. She knew Eliot and Hardison must be worried about it too, not least because the mastermind lived over the top of a bar!

The sky started to turn pink and orange as the sun put in an appearance at last, bringing a smile to Parker’s face as she munched on a handful of dry cereal. Sometimes it was worth an early rise to see a sight like this, though that very thought just reminded her why she had woken up so soon in the first place. The intensity of her dream had been such that just the fleeting memory of it now made her shudder in the best way... or maybe that was her cell vibrating in her back pocket?

Sure enough, Parker found it was a combination of two factors as she reached for her phone and found a message from Hardison, asking her to come over to Nate’s as soon as she was up because she was needed for the next part of their latest con. With a smirk, she couldn’t help but text him back: ‘You haven’t been taken by the Russians again, have you?’

It didn’t take long for the reply to come: ‘Girl, that ain’t even funny’

Well, maybe it wasn’t, but Parker laughed all the same as she sent one further reply promising to be over as soon as she could. She sighed then, wondering how this meeting would go, if Tara Carlisle, Super-Lawyer, was going to be there. Parker had yet to meet her, but she already knew she didn’t like her much. All Hardison and Eliot had really said about her was that she was hot. It wasn’t exactly useful information as far as Parker was concerned, she would rather know if the other woman was capable of rappelling or hacking or safe-breaking, something actually useful. Which reminded her that she’d really like to do some safe-breaking today, and no more grifting. Yeah, that would be cool.

* * *

The door slammed too loudly as Eliot came into the apartment, making Nate look up sharply from the papers on the table before him. It was clear from the look on the hitter’s face that he wasn’t happy about something and honestly Nate almost dreaded asking what it was.

Today wasn’t running quite as smoothly as he would’ve liked already. First thing this morning, he had called the team together and they had headed out to Blanchard’s office, with a view to Parker breaking into his safe whilst Nate did the grifting himself as Jimmy Popodockulus, LA lawyer extraordinaire. Between having to pull a sudden cover in front of Blanchard and his best little thief not having time to finish the safe break, it hadn’t gone well. Parker might be odd but passing her off as the meth-head illegitimate daughter of Bennett Kimble had been a stretch to say the least. These things coupled with Tara Carlisle hanging around wasn’t helping his mood much, and clearly something was damaging Eliot’s calm as well.

“I don’t like this job,” the hitter complained, though that much had been obvious from the get go.

“You want to elaborate on that?” Nate prompted for more information to work with and was duly given it as Eliot continued to pace the floor like a caged animal.

“This guy we’re dealing with? I don’t think he’s buying the story,” he pointed out as Nate got up from the table and came to stand at the end of the couch behind which Eliot came to an abrupt halt in his pacing as he pointed an angry finger in the masterminds direction. “You shouldn’t’ve used Parker that way.”

“Ah, so that’s what this is about,” he sighed, leaning on the furniture, not at all phased apparently even as Eliot went red in the face and got a little more mad. “It’s not the job that’s got you riled up, it’s Parker’s part in it.”

“That’s the same thing!” the hitter snapped, though whether he was trying to convince himself or Nate at this point was anybody’s guess. “Besides, it’s not just that. I don’t trust this Tara chick either,” he pointed out, slightly more calmly, perhaps because they had moved away from the topic of Parker, or so Nate guessed.

“She’s not doing any harm.” Nate shrugged. “In fact she might prove to be an asset yet, being a lawyer and all. We might be able to use that to our advantage. It’ll all work out just fine,” he said reassuringly, though still a little uncertain himself, and honestly Eliot didn’t look all that much better for their little chat either.

He watched as Nate went back to the table and the paperwork he had spread out there. It wasn’t easy to take the guy seriously whilst he was still dressed as Jimmy Pokadokulus anyway, but right now he had done little or nothing to calm Eliot down. He hated what he was feeling right now, the worry and the confusion, and he knew as well as he did it had much less to do with the con as a whole, and a lot more to do with his undefined feelings for Parker.

“You didn’t talk to her yet, did you?” asked Nate, without ever looking up from his paperwork, making Eliot actually wonder if the guy had taken up mind-reading as a hobby.

“Talk to who?” he asked, knowing very well the anwer to that, but the look on Nate’s face then as he did glance up suggested he was not amused by the question. “Yeah, ‘cause that’s gonna solve everybody’s problems. It’s just gonna make new ones,” he said crossly, leaning his weight on the back of the couch.

Eliot so wished he had someone to beat up right now and was glad that Nate gave up on trying to help because otherwise it might’ve been the mastermind himself that got his face flattened. This whole situation was getting pretty crazy. He couldn’t remember the last time he got a good nights sleep thanks to dreams of Parker that grew more intense all the time. He knew he was making it worse by obsessing, but he couldn’t help the fact he was built this way. It was the same obsessive streak that made him good at his job, that made him refuse to give up til the merchandise was collected, til all the guys were unconscious or dead, until the task was complete. The kind of tasks his subconscious had in mind for him and Parker were not things he was about to suggest to her, not just for fear of her over-the-top reaction but for fear of any reaction at all.

Parker liked him, Sophie had said as much, which meant if he really liked her, as Eliot knew by now he must do, they could start a relationship. It wasn’t the starting that bothered him so much as the ending, because their would be one. Then he lost a friend for one thing, which he didn’t exactly have an abundance of anyway, and it’d wreck the team dynamic. One or both out of him and Parker would end up having to leave, her need to run was stronger than his own but he wasn’t sure he could live with being part of this group anymore if he’d forced her out.

All this deep thinking made Eliot crave two things - to hit something or someone, and to drink. Since the bar was much closer than the gym, he chose the latter, pretty sure that before the day was out the con would most likely provide him with the former.

The door slammed as Eliot left the apartment much the same way as he’d come in, and Nate shook his head.

“It’s like living with teenage kids,” he sighed, before going back to his work, hoping against hope that this would get figured out sooner rather than later, and more so that Sophie had come back when he asked this morning, to help things along in more ways than one.

* * *

It was only twenty four hours since Eliot was last sat at McRory’s bar. Yesterday he had come here angry and alone after his confrontation with Nate. Today the whole team was here and celebrating. They had made it through the con and everyone was still in one piece. That was kind of a miracle to Eliot, given how crazy things had gotten. Sure, they always came through, but it was actually starting to scare him how close the close-calls were becoming, especially when his mind had been wandering so much of late.

He would like to blame Parker for this, but he couldn’t do it. It was true that she had caused all this, just walking up to him and laying her lips on him like she had, but she hadn’t meant for it to mean as much as it had. Besides, after all she’d been through today, it was kind of amazing that there was still a smile on the girl’s face.

Sat across the bar with Hardison, it was as if today had never happened. As if she hadn’t been chased and shot at by bent cops on behalf of Kimble’s crooked lawyer. If only it was as easy for Eliot to just let it go and be fine. The bad guys taking pot-shots at him, swinging fists and bats and God knows what, he could deal with that. Every cut and bruise was his to bear and he could take it. When it came to those he was protecting, especially when it was Parker, he didn’t handle it so well. If that cop had actually aimed better, if Eliot hadn’t been there to chase him off... He couldn’t stand the idea of her getting hurt, he just couldn’t.

Now more than ever he knew that Nate and Sophie were right, that he ought to just tell Parker how he felt already, and yet the right moment never seemed to come. Even if it did, he wasn’t sure he could do it. He’d meant what he said before, more problems could be made than solved by him actually having feelings for Parker, by them actually trying to have a relationship, not least because she was barely capable of upholding friendships never mind anything more. It could never work, could it?

“Eliot!” the hitter was suddenly aware of his name being called and his shoulder being jostled. “C’mon, man. Upstairs,” hardison gestured, piquing his friends interest if nothing else.

Though he asked, nobody seemed willing to explain to Eliot what was going on as they all ascended the stairs as a team, Nate in front then Hardison and Parker, and the hitter bringing up the rear. Just as he was about to get mad for being kept in the dark, the door to the apartment was flung open and there, bold as brass, sat Tara Carlisle. No longer was she the ‘sexy librarian’ type as Hardison had called her, but just all-over sexy with an attitude to match. The bigger issue was of course that she was in Nate’s apartment and it would seem she had played the team somehow.

The letter she thrust into the mastermind’s hand seemed to answer that question, as he explained that Sophie had sent this Tara Cole, as her name really was, to cover as a grifter for the team whilst she was away. Immediately Eliot’s arms were folded across his chest. Parker might’ve noticed if she wasn’t busy subconsciously copying the action as she also stared the new girl down.

“I’ll bet she’s not even a lawyer,” said the blonde thief, much to the apparent amusement of the grifter.

“Aaw, Sophie was right,” she cooed, squeezing Parker’s cheek. “You are adorable.”

“Hey, back off, Barbie!” said Eliot, shoving Tara away though not very hard, just enough that she stumbled back a step on her high-heels.

“Ooh,” she reacted with an amused chuckle as she raised her hands in mock-surrender. “Sophie didn’t tell me you two were...” she said, gesturing between Eliot and Parker with an eyebrow raised.

“What?” Parker reacted with shock, mostly because she felt as if maybe this Tara had just read things out of her head - that would be way too freaky!

“You’re crazy!” said Eliot with a shake of his own head, unable to look at the blonde next to him, especially when she laughed.

“Wow, that’s just... Why-why would you even think that?” she chuckled, the two of them apparently amused by the suggestion they would ever be more than team-mates and friends.

Neither really noticed the look Nate shared with Hardison, or the way the hacker was miming shooting himself through the head.

This was getting ridiculous!


	11. Chapter 11

So far, Tara wasn’t really sure what to make of the Leverage team. When Sophie called and asked her to fill her place until she felt ready to come back, to secretly keep an eye on the little family Sophie had made for herself, there wasn’t much of a choice for Tara but to say yes. She owed her fellow grifter a huge favour, and besides, it wasn’t as if she was doing this stuff out of the goodness of her heart like the rest of them. She was going to get her cut from each and every successful job they pulled, and from what she’d seen so far, this team did not fail.

Hardison was very young, but seemed to know what he was doing. He managed a degree of professionalism that Tara respected, and the fact he liked the look of her didn’t hurt, because she could always used that to her advantage if she needed to. As for Nate, he was less a professional and more of a potential loose canon, but Tara trusted Sophie and she in turn trusted Ford, so it worked out.

That just left Eliot and Parker, the two members of the team that Tara was having most trouble with. Job-wise, she didn’t doubt they were excellent at what they did. Parker was supposed to be the best when it came to safe-breaking, rappelling, and pick-pocketing, which were some pretty good skills to have in their line of work. She was quirky to say the least, but that really didn’t bother Tara. As for Eliot, well, they didn’t call him the muscle for nothing. The guy was beyond built and seemed like he would do the job first and worry about everything else later. Of course, Tara had certain ideas of how she and him could spend their down time, but she hadn’t told him that and probably wouldn’t either. It wasn’t that she was worried he’d turn her down, Tara Cole never worried about that kind of thing. Her reason for keeping her hands to herself was simple; she knew she wasn’t what Eliot really wanted and she knew she’d cause a rift in the group if she did what she wanted on that score. The reason was Parker.

“Y’know, you can tell me nothing is going on until your face turns blue, but I don’t believe it,” she said, shaking her head as she followed Parker’s gaze to where Eliot was kicking Hardison’s butt at darts on the other side of the bar.

“What? Huh? What did you just say?” asked the little thief, suddenly snapping out of a daze. “Me and Eliot?” she said, looking as if she were about to laugh about that topic again.

“C’mon, something happened... or you want something to happen?” she tried when she realised maybe her first guess was wrong.

Parker looked from Tara to her drink to Eliot and back around again, getting an idea.

“What would you do?” she asked, curious to get another woman’s opinion.

She had tried things Sophie’s way and it wasn’t exactly working. Parker didn’t think she had a way of her own to try, so maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask Tara what she thought. There weren’t exactly any other females in her life to talk to about all this, and she was feeling more than a little out of her depth right now.

“What would I do?” asked Tara, turning her attention from Parker to the hotness of the team’s hitter, “with him? Hell, if I thought he’d go for it, I’d rip all his clothes off and, well...” she leaned in closer to Parker and whispered a few things in her ear that had the thief’s eyes wide as saucers.

Hell, she thought she knew about sex, but she’d never done that... or that... or any of this... except for that, obviously. Still, the point was not the myriad of things Tara would like to do to Eliot, it was the fact she was telling Parker about it, as well as the fact that a moment later she told her why she wouldn’t do any of it.

“Of course, that’s if he would go for it,” she sighed, finishing off her drink as she glanced over at the guys one more time, “but we all know he’d be thinking about you the whole time so...”

“That’s crazy,” said Parker definitely. “Isn’t it?” Within a second she looked uncertain and Tara stifled a laugh as she turned to her.

“Seriously? You don’t see it?” she checked. “He likes you, and obviously you like him, so what’s stopping you from just going for it?” she asked, leaving Parker to think about that as she wandered across the bar to where Nate was talking with a potential client.

Poor Parker was beyond confused by now. She had been following Sophie’s plans this whole time, thinking that the grifter knew everything when it came to guys, and relationships, and life in general. She trusted her and even though she’d up and left her behind, Parker still believed that all Sophie wanted to do was help.

Of course, following her friends advice hadn’t worked out so well up to now. That made her wonder if she should try doing things her own way. It took Parker a while to work out what her own way was. She liked to speak her mind, but more than once that had led to her being called crazy, to Eliot himself telling her there was something wrong with her. It was said that actions spoke louder than words, and since this whole mess of feelings she couldn’t deal with had started with one pretty hot kiss, Parker couldn’t help but think the real way to simple this whole thing up was just to kiss Eliot again and see what happened.

It hadn’t occurred yet, the right moment just hadn’t come up. Any time Parker decided might be a good one, something prevented her from following through. The mark made an unexpected move, Nate called them back for a meeting, the phone rang, it started to rain. It was as if the world was conspiring against her, and Parker ought to be used to that by now.

Still, she wasn’t being beaten this time, not by anyone or anything. She had to admit, even if it was only inside her own head, that Tara had a point. She wasn’t sure she entirely trusted the teams temporary grifter yet, but she knew that she was right about Eliot. He was probably really good at sex, since he had proven to be great at kissing. He was certainly built for the task, probably had no end of stamina, and he had to have talents enough because women were always falling all over him wherever they went.

“Hey, you okay?” Parker was snapped out of deep thought by Hardison appearing beside her. “Where’s your head at, girl?” he asked her as she came to from her daze and glanced up at him.

“I was just thinking about sex,” she admitted, as the hacker did a double-take, wondering if she really had just said what he thought he heard. “It doesn’t matter,” she sighed, as she realised Nate was gesturing for them to follow him upstairs to the apartment.

Seemed like they had another job to focus on right now, and everything else would have to wait until later.

* * *

It had been a long couple of days. Any job the team pulled could turn into a crisis at a moment’s notice, and the stress of that was enough to exhaust a person by the time the con was complete. Of course it was somewhat worse for Eliot who rarely ended a job without some serious injury or other sustained in a fight he’d gotten into with the mark, the mark’s henchman, or some other unexpected party.

This seemed like it was going to be a simple con, duping some dumb over-zealous would-be fashion designer out of her money for the sake of some hard done by factory workers. Eliot had hoped for an easy ride on this one, but unfortunately not. He had figured on the toughest part being getting his eye-liner on straight but then the Triads had shown up and the whole thing got decidedly out of hand.

Stepping out of the shower, Eliot checked himself over. He had a few more bruises than he’d like, but thankfully no cuts from the cleavers that had been waved at him. He had to admit that Tara had been quite the asset in that fight. The chick had skills, that was for sure and he respected her for that, but he still wasn’t entirely sure he trusted her. It was going to take more than one successful con and Sophie’s coercing to convince him it was going to work with the new girl on the team.

Wrapping a towel around his waist, Eliot went over to the bathroom cabinet and checked his face in the mirror. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he could still see make-up around his eyes. Hell, his Momma would have a fit if she knew her boy had been wearing mascara, even if it was all for a good cause.

A fashion show was hardly Eliot Spencer’s scene, though it hadn’t seemed to matter too much that he thought he looked ridiculous as Caprina’s assistant. The girls at the show seemed interested enough, and truth be told he had played on that, especially when Parker was around.

It was childish and stupid, Eliot knew that, but the idea of making her jealous kind of appealed. Mostly he wanted to see if it could be done, test the waters maybe, see if she really did have some feelings in there for him. Focusing on that stopped Eliot having to think about any feelings he might be having himself and in Parker’s direction. Talking about how many models he’d dated, about the private fashion shows that ended with dresses on the ground, it was going to annoy any woman, so it was hard to tell if her snippy tone was down to jealousy or just his being somewhat of a chauvinistic pig in that moment, judging women by their looks alone.

He wasn’t really that person, though of course he liked a pretty face and well kept figure, he was only human after all. There was no way he would ever want a real relationship with any of the models or similar that he had known, any more than they’d really want to date him. It was all about the good time that could be had, a night of fun before everybody moved on, back to their real lives.

These days Eliot’s nights were often spent alone, and yet his mind found all kinds of fun to throw at him. He was still dreaming of Parker more often than he wasn’t, and no matter how hard he tried not to think about it, he just couldn’t get the girl out of his head.

Heading to his room, Eliot dropped down onto the bed and wished the world away. He really needed some sleep, in spite of the fact he told the team he survived easily on ninety minutes a day. He could do that for a while, if he had to, but mostly he didn’t try. A normal person’s eight hours was preferable if he could get it, unless of course he started dreaming again, in which case he often woke up more exhausted than when he went to sleep somehow, and certainly a lot more frustrated!

A sudden sound in the dark had Eliot’s eyes open in a second, the arm that had been behind his head now down at his side as he sat up, swinging his legs out of the bed. He listened carefully, sure he heard something but unable to put his finger on exactly what that something was. Surely no-one would be dumb enough to be breaking into his apartment, though of course some unsuspecting burglar would have no idea what they were dealing with.

In near-silence, Eliot put his feet to the floor and moved softly to the bedroom door and out into the living room. He was half way to the front door, fists up and ready for a fight with whoever was trying to bust into his home, when suddenly the door swung open, the light flipped on, and there she was.

“Parker?” he looked stunned by the sight of her, not just because she was maybe the last person he had expected but also because of what she was wearing.

Not in her usual cat burglar garb or even the plain shirts and pants she often wore when sitting around at Nate’s apartment, instead Parker wore a long flowing figure-hugging red dress with a split that ran from her ankle right up to mid thigh. Eliot swallowed hard as his eyes ran over her body and up to her face. A part of him almost thought he had fallen asleep and this was all just one of those erotic dreams he’d been getting for weeks now, but he knew better. This was reality, this was really Parker. The smell of jasmine gave her away as not being a hallucination, and the way she was looking at him right now was too strange for if he’d conjured her up in his head.

“Er, how’d you get in here?” he asked, feeling more than a little dazed and confused, as he let his battle-ready stance go.

“Hello? Lock breaker!” said Parker without quite enough sarcasm, not least because she was entirely distracted by the sight of Eliot in nothing but his boxers, and over-run by a nervous feeling that just wouldn’t quit.

Parker had never done anything like this before and was just a little worried it was going to go horribly wrong. She was pretty sure she’d got it right, the dress and everything seemed to be making Eliot stare which she thought was the point of it. Now came part two as he asked her what she was doing here so late.

“I thought you liked private fashion shows?” she said, echoing his own words from the con just hours before, as she pushed the door closed behind her.

Eliot wasn’t sure how to answer that as his mind went back to the same conversation she was referencing.

“Parker,” he began, “I don’t...”

Before he had a chance to figure out the rest of what he was trying to say, to even fully process what she was doing, the zipper that ran down the side of Parker’s dress was undone, the silky red material sliding down her body and pooling at her feet.

“Most of the dresses end up on the ground, right?” she said, her expression showing she wasn’t entirely sure she was doing this right and yet was determined to go with it anyway.

In all honesty, Eliot wasn’t much looking at her face right now, and most men would probably have the same problem when standing opposite the unexpected surprise of a very nearly naked Parker. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t noticed before how gorgeous she was, and it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been free and easy about changing clothes in front of him before tonight, but she was never at his house before, never saying these things that sounded so much like an invitation. Not that she was so much talking now as stepping out of her abandoned dress and walking toward him.

Lips to lips and skin on skin, if Eliot hadn’t been certain before that this wasn’t a dream, he knew now. This was reality, because no fantasy could ever feel quite like this as Parker kissed him and he kissed her back, not even debating the fact that this might be a really bad idea. All those nights he dreamed of her, all the time spent wondering what would happen if any of those scenarios his brain conjured up actually came true. Now here was the literal woman of his dreams, making a beeline for his bedroom, her arms locked around his neck and her lips attached to his as she kissed him with an intensity he ought to have known existed within her all along.

As for Parker herself, she stopped thinking the moment she stepped out of that dress and into Eliot’s arms. Her whole life, she had learnt to act on instinct alone, not to over analyse just to make a quick decision and go with it. Most of the time it worked out for her, and given how much time and effort she’d already fruitlessly wasted on trying to figure out what to do, taking advice from everyone else and not trusting her own judgement, well, now was the time to throw all that away. Parker made a decision, to come over here and just go with her instincts, all the unidentifiable, unnameable feelings she’d been struggling with for weeks now be damned.

It didn’t take long for Parker to realise she had made the right choice. People always said that reality could never rival imagination but so far she was here to tell them they were wrong. That kiss she and Eliot had shared weeks before was hot, she was aware of that, but she had started to wonder if she was remembering it better than it truly had been. Here was proof that she hadn’t embellished at all in her mind or her dreams, as her whole body came alive in a way she never could have imagined at the touch of his lips and hands on her skin.

If either of them had been thinking clearly, they might’ve stopped this, thought about how they would feel about what they’d done come morning. It could have a major impact on their lives, on their work, on their happy little family-type team too. The fact of the matter was, neither Eliot nor Parker were thinking much anymore, about these things or anything else right now. They had waited so long and this felt so good; to hell with everything else.


	12. Chapter 12

Eliot wasn’t sure when he fell asleep exactly. He’d been so tired after the latest con, and yet found plenty of energy when Parker had shown up at his door, taking off the dress she wore and making it plain what she had come here for. With both of them out of their clothes before they even began and mere feet from the open bedroom door, it wasn’t exactly surprising that what happened had happened like it did. All those intense dreams that had haunted Eliot for so long, and yet nothing had prepared him for reality. Of course, he hadn’t much time to wonder on it now as he realised he was alone in his bed, and yet not in his room.

“Parker?” he said into the darkness, the clock catching his eye as he pulled himself up, telling him it was still before dawn.

The figure of her, barely dressed as she was, stopped moving before his bleary eyes, and Eliot focused on her stood there like a deer in headlights.

“I was leaving,” she explained, a waver in her voice that he didn’t really understand as he tried to process what she was saying.

“I don’t...” he began as he got up and went over to her, stunned to realise she was shaking like a leaf, and that her eyes looked red as if she might’ve been crying. “What’s wrong, darlin’?” he asked, moving to put his arms around her, only to have her turn away.

“Nothing,” she said sharply. “Why would anything be wrong?” She shrugged, pushing her hair out of her face.

Eliot was kind of baffled right now. His sleep deprived brain was already in over-drive after what he and Parker had done here tonight, and now she was acting strange even for her. She didn’t do emotions most of the time, and yet, whilst they hadn’t exactly been talking before, they had both shown plenty of feelings when they were together. Now she seemed upset, with herself or with him, Eliot couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t like it at all.

"Here,” he said, pulling the comforter off the bed and wrapping it around her shoulders, mindful still of her shaking, though he wasn’t convinced all of it was from the cold.

She muttered a thanks but still refused to face him, her eyes flitting from the bed to the door. A voice in her brain was screaming at her to run, to bolt out the door, grab her dress, and be gone into the night like she had done more than once before. Still, she couldn’t find a way to make her legs work, not least because she ached in muscles that had no business aching, but more than that because staying here actually seemed like a good idea. That in itself was scary as hell to Parker, and she just didn’t know what to do with all the mixed up things she was feeling.

“I never... I never did this,” she said, and Eliot honestly wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or to him.

“You never...” he began, a little confused now because he was pretty sure that Parker was not a virgin.

“Never stayed,” she admitted, turning around now to face him, hitching the comforter up around her shoulders more as she made herself meet his eyes. “When I have sex, I leave, before the guy ever wakes up. I never stayed before.” She shook her head to confirm her point. “But then... I never felt... I never went with a guy like you before,” she said, feeling so dumb as tears came to her eyes.

Parker never cried, never, and yet here she was looking strangely frightened and far too upset. Eliot hated to see her like this and yet he really wasn’t sure what to say to make it better. She wasn’t making a whole lot of sense, which was usual for Parker, but then it had never mattered quite so much before tonight that he didn’t understand.

“A guy like me?” he echoed those words that had him the most confused. “What’s that mean?” he checked.

Parker took a deep breath, trying to regain control of her emotions as well as form a viable sentence, neither of which seemed to be coming easily right now. She didn’t tell people how she was feeling, never showed them either, not until tonight. She’d thought it would be simple, that she would come here and take off her clothes, that she and Eliot would have sex and then she’d be over it. Parker had honestly believed it would be so easy, get the itch scratched and move on, but it really wasn’t that simple.

“I actually care about you,” she tried to explain, “and you care about me, and... I didn’t know it’d make that much difference.”

Eliot was starting to understand what she was driving at now, because if he let himself actually think about it, believe what he felt was real, then he knew that sleeping with Parker had been very different to with other girls too. Comparing women he’d had sex with always seemed wrong, never so much as right now, and yet Eliot couldn’t help it. The only time he came close to feeling like he had with her was with Aimee, the only other woman in his life he had loved. Maybe that meant he was in love with Parker, maybe it didn’t, right now all he knew for certain was that she was breaking his heart by being so upset and he needed for them both to figure this out. Unfortunately, before he had the chance to process enough thoughts to actually speak, Parker had her own things in mind to say again.

“I just thought after we did it, I’d stop wondering, stop caring about it, or about you, in that way,” she said, as straight-forward as she could, as she always did, “but now it’s all worse, because these feelings are getting stronger and more mixed up and it’s like I’m going to be trapped with them forever...” she trailed off, her hand over her chest that genuinely hurt right now.

Eliot didn’t have words to give her, none that would help anyway. He didn’t have it in him to tell her he loved her, not right now, not when he wasn’t even sure of it himself. Instead he went with actions, just the same as she had when she shown up at his place hours before. His hand slid into her hair and pulled her head gently closer as he leaned in to kiss her lips. He was mindful of freaking her out, on his guard at first in case she flipped, but it didn’t happen. She kissed him back with little hesitation, melting into a familiar moment that could have gone anywhere from here, but didn’t right now as Eliot moved away first.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, leaning his forehead against Parker’s own. “I’m sorry if I made it worse, but if it helps at all, I’m as thrown for a loop by this as you are,” he assured her.

Parker let her eyes fall shut as she leant into the hand that moved through her hair and to her cheek. She didn’t blame Eliot for what was happening, because it just wasn’t his fault. She had come here looking for sex and that was what she got, only it was so intense, so sweet and tender at the same time, like nothing she ever experienced before. Nobody ever told her that it could feel that way, that she might actually want to stay with a guy after, his arms holding her close, safe, warm.

She ought to have known it would be different with Eliot, because he was different, like no other guy she ever knew in her life up to now. It was scary, properly scary to think that this could happen to her, that she could want and need somebody else like this. All her instincts told her to run away as fast as she could, and yet the over-riding feeling of warmth and security and something else she didn’t even have a name for yet stuck her to this spot, wrapped in the arms of a man that mixed her up so much and yet at the same time made her feel so calm and safe.

“I like it when you hold me,” she blurted out, as Parker was want to do when a thought ran through her head, it just spilled out of her mouth without a filter and as annoying as it had seemed to Eliot when he first knew her, he found the honesty entirely refreshing these days.

“That works out,” he said, smiling and hugging her close, “’cause I like holding onto you,” he told her, encouraging her to follow him back to bed.

They lay down together, her curled up in his arms, fighting the urge to bolt. It wasn’t an easy thing, fighting instincts she’d had for more years than she cared to count, but she wanted to do it. She wanted this to be okay, to let the warmth and comfort she was feeling over-ride everything else. Eliot was totally worth the effort she had to make and clearly he thought so too, because he was one of very few that cared enough to listen when she talked, to try to be nice to her when she got upset or confused.

“How come it’s not always like this?” she asked, meeting his eyes. “I mean, I had sex before, lots of times-”

“Parker.” Eliot interrupted her, trying not to get mad. “You don’t talk about other guys you slept with when you’re still... well, when you’re here. At least, not right now.”

“Oh.” She looked a little embarrassed that she’d screwed up but soon got over it and carried on anyway. “But why was this different?” she asked earnestly. “I mean, I never wanted to stay before, and I never... it just never felt like this,” she tried to explain but did so badly as was usual for Parker.

To be honest, Eliot wasn’t totally surprised she had trouble verbalising. He wasn’t great with emotions himself, especially not finding words to describe them well as a general rule. She wasn’t wrong in what she said, this had been different, far from just sex, just a release like it had been with Mikhail or any other one night stand he’d had. In his own head, he berated himself for turning into a chick in this moment, but it had been special, there was no other word Eliot could find to describe it.

“Does it matter?” he asked, running his fingers through her hair. “Can’t we just go to sleep now, maybe talk about it in the morning?”

“You don’t mind if I’m still here in the morning?” she checked, perhaps finding it as odd that he wanted her to stay as she did knowing that she wanted to, when it was not her usual choice.

“I’d like it better if you were,” he told her honestly, with a smile that made her stomach flip in the best way, as his eyes fell closed.

He had to be tired, Parker realised, after the con they pulled and then all the sex. Honestly, she was feeling the drag of sleep herself, and nowhere had ever been a more perfectly comfortable place to rest than this, she realised, as she joined Eliot in slumber.

* * *

It was light out the next time Eliot Spencer opened his eyes to the world. Despite the fact he hadn’t had quite as much sleep as he planned last night, there was no denying he felt good this morning, or at least he did until he rolled over and found the rest of the bed empty again. A frown creased his brow as he sat up and looked around the room, finding Parker nowhere to be seen.

Pushing his hair back off his face, Eliot let himself collapse back against the pillows, feeling like he’d just fallen five hundred feet off a cliff into deep dark water. He thought he got through to Parker last night, thought she understood how he felt about her. He genuinely thought she would still be here in the morning and yet it seemed he was wrong. Now he was going to have to face the team, explain how he screwed up. God, there was a chance that Parker wasn’t just gone from his apartment but from Boston, maybe even out of the country by now. Just as Eliot’s mind began racing with a hundred awful scenarios, all of which meant he had lost Parker from his life, he suddenly heard a noise.

Eliot took his hands away from his face and listened intently, sure somebody was in his kitchen. Strangely he thought it might be an intruder, before his brain reminded his instincts he was being an idiot. Hopping out of bed, he was soon stood in the kitchen doorway, admiring the view of Parker searching through his cupboards, wearing just one of his own shirts over her underwear. Hell, he could’ve stood there all day, leaning on the door jamb with his arms folded just watching her, being a part of his home. It was the strangest feeling, but in the best way.

“What are you doing, darlin’?” he asked after a while when the curiosity got the better of him, since she had opened just about every door in the place, and yet taken nothing out so far.

“I was hungry,” said Parker, spinning around with as much grace as ever. “Don’t you have cereal?” she asked with a look of real confusion that Eliot could relate to.

Not that he was baffled by his own lack of cereal, but apparently they weren’t even going to talk about what had happened between them last night. Parker was the one who had been up in the middle of the night, wanting to hash out the finer points of their would-be relationship, and now the only thing on her mind seemed to be food. The girl was crazy, but she was his crazy girl now and that was all that really mattered to Eliot.

“I only eat real food,” he reminded her, wandering over and running a hand through her hair. “What do you want?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, leaning into his touch, unable to keep the smile off her face. “What do you want?” she asked, feeling just a little awkward as she put her arms around him, until she felt the familiarity of Eliot’s arms around her too. 

“What do _I_ want?” he echoed the question, seemingly thoughtful. “Mostly... you,” he admitted, capturing her lips with his own.

In moments they were both lost in a kiss neither could bear to break, and though their hunger was still apparent, it wasn’t exactly for food anymore.

“Maybe breakfast could wait a while?” Parker breathed between kisses.

“Deal,” Eliot swiftly agreed as he picked her up off her feet and carried her off the bedroom, giggling all the way with the giddy surprise of it all.

Parker had never been so glad of anything she’d done as coming here last night and making this happen with Eliot, and that included every con she’d ever pulled, every diamond she’d ever stolen. So far this was going really, really well!


	13. Chapter 13

It was Monday afternoon when Nate called the team to his apartment to talk about their next con. He gave them all the weekend to cool off after a tougher than expected job against the Triads. Now relaxation time was over and it was back to work, at least that had been the plan when he gathered everyone together like this. The trouble was he got the distinct impression as he looked from Hardison in one seat, past Eliot and Parker on the couch, to Tara in the other armchair, that nobody was taking him seriously or really even listening.

“Okay, that’s it!” he exclaimed, so suddenly that everyone physically jumped, mostly because they really hadn’t been paying attention. “Tara, what is so funny?” he asked, as she continued to fight a grin.

“What?” she shrugged at first, her hand at her face where it had been on and off for the past ten minutes as she tried not to laugh.

“Clearly something is amusing you,” said Nate in an over-the-top way, sounding a little too much like a teacher admonishing a kid who had been passing notes in class, “You want to share what the joke is so we can get to some serious work here?” he asked her crossly.

At that Tara just lost it, not least because he was clearly trying to make her feel like a naughty school girl and not succeeding at all.

“I’m sorry,” she chuckled, “but these two?” she said, hiking a thumb across at Parker and Eliot before turning her head to look at them. “You totally had sex, didn’t you?” she said, a question despite the fact she was ninety-nine percent sure that she was right.

“What?!” Nate looked and sounded shocked, not just that these two had finally done something about their mixed up feelings for each other, but that he seemed to be the last to know.

“Oh, c’mon, man!” said Hardison. “Seriously? You didn’t notice that Parker is wearing Eliot’s shirt?”

“And probably his sweats too,” said Tara peering at the pants the blonde beside her was wearing. “Oh my God, did you even go home since Friday?” she asked with wide eyes and a grin that wouldn’t shift.

Even Parker was forced to blush and Eliot looked oddly uncomfortable. Neither of them had spoken yet, not really sure what to say for the best. Now they were being asked direct questions and Parker at least liked to respond to those with direct answers.

“Nope, haven’t seen much but his bedroom ceiling all weekend,” she told Tara easily, making the grifter laugh, as Nate covered his face with his hand, wishing the world away.

“Oh, man, that is some stamina, bro,” said Hardison, raising his hand for a high five with the hitter. “For that, you get that,” he told him, and though he was shocked and embarrassed as hell right now, Eliot didn’t want it to show and accepted the gesture, slamming his hand against the hacker’s own.

“Hey, you gotta tell me,” said Tara, gesturing for Parker to lean in closer and whispering to her. “Is he as good as he looks?”

“Oh my God, yes!” the little thief replied with far too much enthusiasm and volume given the circumstances.

This was the point where Nate actually thought his head was going to explode with the force of his trying not to hear all that was being said, or think about what it meant. Parker was like a daughter to him in the strangest way, he really could not deal with knowing she was having sex, especially not with Eliot. He was fine with them being a couple, if it made them happy, and so long as it didn’t affect the team, he just did not want to hear about it... ever!

“Okay!” he said, putting both hands up and shouting loud enough that Hardison wouldn’t be surprised if the whole of McRorys downstairs came to a grinding halt to listen. “Eliot, Parker, if you two are happy then that... that’s great,” he told them with an almost genuine smile, “but I do not need to hear about whatever it is you’ve been doing this weekend, and I’m sure Tara and Hardison can stand to wait for all the gory details until after we’re done working, okay?”

A general muttering of ‘Yes, boss,’ and similar went around the room, and Nate let out a sigh of relief as he turned back to the vid screen and continued his talk. Of course, he was still struggling inside, though he didn’t let it show. He was glad to know Parker and Eliot were happy together, that they had finally been honest with each other and figured things out. It was what they’d all been waiting for, for weeks now, and that was fine and dandy. The problem was what came after, all the things that could potentially go wrong in an intense relationship between two pretty intense people. This one new union had the potential to blow the whole team apart in time, and that was a genuine fear that lived inside of Nate.

At the same time, his mind was constantly wandering to Sophie. If she was here, she would be thrilled to see Parker so giddy and Eliot with a genuine smile on his face that was rarely so constant. She would also be telling him not to worry so much, reminding him that a drink wouldn’t solve anything, and that this team had come through so many things already, it could survive anything now. God, he missed her, now more than ever, because Nate couldn’t help but wonder, if he had been as honest with Sophie as Parker and Eliot had clearly been with each other, maybe he would be happier now, maybe she never would’ve walked out of him at all.

* * *

“And it’s not that your advice wasn’t great,” Parker told Sophie as she paced in front of the vid screen which displayed the grifter’s face. “It’s just it didn’t work, and then Tara said she wanted to have sex with Eliot-”

“She would.” Sophie rolled her eyes as she interrupted. “Not that he’s not attractive, obviously,” she back-pedalled when she realised she might’ve caused offence, only to note that Parker wasn’t even listening, she was still talking.

“So, I just went with my instincts, which I probably should’ve done in the first place,” she went on, waving an arm in some random gesture as she explained, never really looking at Sophie just walking up and down so much she was making her friend dizzy and probably wearing a groove in the flooring by now. “and we had sex, and-”

“Oh my God, you and Eliot slept together?” Sophie gasped, perhaps a little too loudly, but at least her reaction got the little thief to stop pacing and actually face her.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “And I kinda freaked out,” she admitted, looking pained a moment before a giddy smile came to her lips. “But he was all sweet and nice about it. Did you ever feel like this, Sophie?” she asked in earnest. “It’s like all warm from the inside out, and really calm and like nothing could ever make you mad or sad or anything ever again.”

The grifter sighed a long heavy sigh, a sad smile curving her lips. Parker sure had got it bad, but in the best way. She was in love, as far as Sophie could tell, though thankfully it occurred to her not to go blurting that out in front of the poor fragile girl. She wasn’t good with emotions at the best of times, and if she was feeling happy and content right now, Sophie was the last person who wanted to spoil anything or make it more awkward than it needed to be.

“Sweetie, you are so lucky that this is working out for you,” she told her kindly. “To find a person that can make you feel that way, to have him care about you just as much as you do about him, it’s... it’s magical, isn’t it?”

“So far? Pretty good, yeah,” agreed the blonde with a smile that wouldn’t shift, “but I’m still not sure about...” she began, only to have the door open and Eliot appear there. “Gotta go!” she said fast, turning off the screens before Sophie could say another word and hiding the clicker behind her back. “Hey!” she greeted him with a smile that was too forced.

Eliot wasn’t dumb, though as the muscle it was often assumed he would be. He heard Parker talking when he was the other side of the door and he was certain the other voice he’d caught a little of was Sophie’s own. The vid-screen seemed to flash as he came in the door, like it was just being switched off, and Parker was definitely hiding something.

“What’s goin’ on?” he asked as he walked over, and Parker dropped down to sit on the couch, shoving the clicker under a cushion.

“Nothing,” she lied blatantly and he knew it too.

“Parker.” Her name came out like a warning as he sat down beside her, waiting for her to crack.

For a practised liar and a thief, she broke incredibly easily under his gaze. That surprised her more than it did him, but then she hadn’t quite grasped the meaning of all that was happening between them yet, the fact that the way she cared about Eliot meant it wasn’t that she couldn’t lie to him so much as she just didn’t want to.

“Okay, fine! I was talking to Sophie,” she admitted, shifting awkwardly in her seat, “and I thought you’d be mad because we were talking about you and me, and what happened with us,” she told him, just waiting for him to yell apparently as she seemed to be trying to hide in the corner of the couch.

Eliot felt bad for her. She really expected him to get mad at her, yell at her for wanting to talk to her friend, their friend, about the fact they were starting some kind of relationship. Gone was the confident woman who showed up on his doorstep a couple of nights ago, determined to show him with actions that came easier than words just exactly how she felt about him. Here was a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and genuinely scared of screwing up apparently.

“Hey,” he said, reaching out a hand to her face and encouraging her to look at him. “I’m not mad at you,” he promised her, noting the irony since he had a reputation for being mad at everybody and all of the time as a rule, “but y’know if anyone is gonna talk about us it should be you and me, not you and Sophie,” he reminded her, glad that she was at least smiling a little now as she moved in closer to him.

“Okay.” Parker nodded, “So, what do we talk about?” she asked, apparently genuinely baffled as to where a person began with a relationship.

The truth was, she never had this with anybody else, and mostly never planned to. She liked sex and she knew how it worked, she had no problem with male company in a friendly sort of way, but she never had a person she could ever call a boyfriend. She certainly never had what people called a ‘relationship’, not until now, not until Eliot.

“Well, most important thing first,” he told her with a smile as he leant in to kiss her lips.

Though she was surprised, Parker responded with the same hunger he was feeling and since she didn’t much care for self-control, the moment might of gone anywhere if he let it. Still Eliot was very aware that there was a conversation needed to be had before that, and if they didn’t have it now it might never happen!

“That’s not talking,” Parker pointed out as they parted. “Not that I mind,” she assured him, grinning anyway, “but you said talking.”

“Yeah, talking,” Eliot reminded himself of the importance of that, pushing his hair back off his face as he got his mind back where it was supposed to be. “Parker, I’m not good with relationships,” he warned her.

“That’s okay, neither am I.” She shrugged easily, though he hadn’t really finished making his point.

“Yeah, but what I’m saying is... the last thing I want to do is screw this up or hurt you,” he tried to explain, holding her hands in his. “That’s why this thing with us didn’t happen before, why I didn’t let it happen,” he tried to tell her, knowing he wasn’t getting this out very well and that he probably lost her already but he had to try. “Now it’s happening anyway and... and I can’t promise you it’s going to work out like a fairytale,” he told her, glancing up from their entwined fingers to meet her eyes.

Eliot honestly didn’t know how she was going to react. For all he knew, she could burst out laughing or burst into tears, such was the range of intense emotions Parker had in her that could come tumbling out at any moment and in any random order. The truth was he hadn’t a clue how she would respond to just about anything he said or did, which was scary as hell in one way, and yet he was willing to deal because of how much he cared about her.

“Eliot, I’m not a kid,” she reminded him. “I gave up believing in fairytales a long time ago, way before all the other little girls,” she said, with just a little bitterness in her tone. “I don’t want you to be all... like, Prince Charming or whatever,” she waved a hand in some random gesture. “I don’t even know how to be a proper girlfriend.” She shook her head, because that was a definite. "But I like you, a lot, and I just kinda wanna see what happens with us being... y’know, like an us,” she tried her best to say what she meant but was fairly certain she’d failed since she could barely tell what she meant herself anymore, and Eliot looked as baffled as she was. “You’re looking at me weird.”

“I’m sorry, darlin’,” he apologised immediately, making a definite effort to change his expression.

The fact was, Parker was saying everything he could ever want to hear from her. He wondered if she had really thought much about what was happening here, what could happen as time went on. She seemed to realise the same as he did that they were both as screwed up as each other in their own way, and neither really cut out for a steady relationship. Still, they cared enough about each other that they were willing to try.

“So, we’re good, right?” she checked then, looking worried and making Eliot realise he had yet to answer her properly since she gave her odd little speech. “You understand?”

“Yeah,” he told her with a smile. “I get it, I do. We can just let it ride, see how this works out,” he agreed, glad to see Parker smile again, even happier when she leaned in to kiss him.

Of course, it was never going to end at one kiss, not at this point in such a new relationship. So much passion existed between them, so many feelings that had been bottled up too long. One weekend only achieved so much, they still wanted each other so badly.

They were lying together on the couch before long, as Parker’s hand strayed to Eliot’s belt buckle, bringing him out of his passion-induced haze in that moment, and back to startling reality.

“Parker,” he said, pulling away some. “We can’t do this here,” he realised, remembering the door was unlocked and the team could potentially walk in at any moment; it wasn’t likely but it could happen.

“Oh,” Parker reacted a little belatedly as her brain caught up to her body. “Well, um, Nate has a bed, right?” she said with a wicked smile that was impossible to resist.

Eliot didn’t even try to argue, as they got up hand in hand and disappeared up the stairs, her laughter echoing through the apartment, like music to his ears.


	14. Chapter 14

Nate walked into his apartment rather more sedately than he’d left a few hours before. It was strange how a day could start in one mood and take a complete seismic shift in the middle. Sometimes it was a move for the better and other times for the worse. Today had managed to make two such turns, the first in the former sense and the other in the latter.

Sitting down at the table, the mastermind put his face in his hands and let out a long breath. He was slowly getting used to his world being turned upside down on a regular basis, or at least Nate thought he was. He had to be ready for just about anything doing the job he did, pulling the cons his team tried and succeeded in completing. Still he got a few surprises along the way. He really hadn’t seen this whole Eliot and Parker thing coming, in fact he had been the one to tell Sophie she was seeing things when she pointed it out to him.

Now it seemed clear his hitter and thief were in deep somehow. Nobody had mentioned love yet, and he couldn’t imagine either of them saying such a thing any time soon, but he could see it now, clear as day between them. It seemed crazy on the surface, they bickered so much when the team first got together, now Nate realised that was just the fine line they were walking between love and hate. Sophie saw it, but then Sophie always did. Maybe if she had stayed it wouldn’t have taken so long for Eliot and Parker to see sense, but then stubborn as they were it was hard to tell.

It mattered to Nate that his team were happy, making him wonder how each of them had so easily become a family member he hardly knew he needed. Since the death of his son and divorce from his wife, Nate had been completely cut off from any sense of belonging he used to have, until the team, until now. He had a family and their welfare was important. If Eliot and Parker could make each other happy then he wasn’t about to ruin it, even if he had to wonder how long it could really last. The fall out could be bad, could lead to a break up of this family he had gotten so used to, but he hoped not.

Right now that was a bridge to jump off when they reached it, hopefully far off into the future, if it ever came at all. He wouldn’t presume to try and stop them living their lives as they wanted to. In their line of work, Eliot’s in particular, every day was to be lived to the maximum because there was always a chance of it being the last in one way or the other.

Death haunted each and every one of them, but not just those in the Leverage team, every person in the world. Nobody lived forever, even good people had to pass away sometime, such was the truth today. One of Nate’s oldest friends had died last night, dear old John McRory who owned the bar downstairs. It was a sobering thought for Nate that the man was not so very much older than him, and yet he was gone forever. So sobering in fact that the idea of being entirely drunk appealed tremendously.

He wouldn’t do it, Nate told himself, as he pictured in his mind’s eye the disapproving look Sophie would give him if she saw him reach for the scotch bottle now, after spending so very long ‘on the wagon’ as it were. Still, it was tempting, and perhaps more so in some ways because he knew she wouldn’t approve. He didn’t much approve of her walking out on the team, on him, and yet she was gone. Nobody seemed to care much what he thought or said or felt of late. Why would it matter if he wanted to drink himself into oblivion? Who would be here to care?

“Nate?”

A voice from the stairs gave him his answer as Eliot and Parker descended one behind the other, tucking in shirts and fixing hair.

Three guesses what they’ve been doing, he thought to himself, but chose not to dwell on it more than a moment.

“Hello, you two,” he said with a clearly forced smile as he got up from his place at the table and headed into the kitchen.

He had decided quite definitely not to drink alcohol but he was at least going to need a caffeine fix if he was going to get through today. There was an awkward silence as Eliot and Parker hovered behind him, both clearly wondering what to say for the best. Make an excuse for why they were upstairs, ask if he was okay because he certainly didn’t seem it, or just make a hasty exit to avoid potentially making matters worse. It was the hitter who spoke eventually, if only to avoid his girlfriend (for lack of a better term) from saying something inappropriate as she was want to do.

“You feeling okay, man?” he asked, watching as Nate put on the coffee pot.

“In relative terms... I could be okay.” He shrugged as he turned to look between the two of them, leaning back against the counter as they cautiously approached him, as if he were a bomb about to go off. “I just found out John McRory... he, er, he passed away last night,” he admitted, avoiding the dreaded ‘d’ word that would make this all too real.

“I’m sorry,” said Eliot, looking genuinely like he was trying to be comforting, something Nate knew didn’t come easy for any of his misfit crew.

“Yeah, me too.” The mastermind sighed as he showed the couple the coffee pot, silently offering them a cup.

“Ooh, yeah,” Parker began to say, until Eliot tapped her elbow to get her attention and shook his head. “Or no?” she tried.

“Maybe we should go,” the hitter said thoughtfully, looking to his friend, “Y’know, you might want to be alone with your thoughts and all,” he said waving his hand in a vague gesture.

“Maybe,” nate nodded his reply, glad that Eliot seemed to understand his situation even better than he did. “Actually, yes. If you wouldn’t mind.”

Parker just nodded and moved to grab her jacket before heading for the door with Eliot right behind her. As they passed by Nate, the thief stopped a moment, looking troubled before she leaned in and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.

“There, there,” she said flatly, before turning to go.

The hitter rolled his eyes, shooting Nate an apologetic look on behalf of his so-called girlfriend and then leaving. The mastermind could hear them in the hall as Parker asked what she did wrong and Eliot tried, rather loudly, to explain it to her. That at least raised a smile on their team-mates face. They were still bickering, even now, even after everything and how much they clearly cared for each other, loved each other even.

Nate looked down into his cup of coffee, staring deep into the dark brown liquid as if he hoped to find the answers to the universe in there. As expected, he found nothing but caffeine that was never going to fill the void, no more than alcohol might if he gave in and tried it. Thinking of Sophie always stilled his shaking hand before it ever reached the one bottle he still had hidden in the apartment. If anything was going to drive him to drink, today might well be the day, and yet he refused to break. In his mind’s eye he saw the grifter’s face, her expression so full of disappointment at such an action. Of course, he was equally as disappointed in her for having given up on the team, on him, on what they might’ve had some day.

Sadness turned to anger as Nate thought on it too much and realised that at least in part he was entirely mad at Sophie for walking out the way she did, for not being here when the team needed her, damn it, when he needed her so very badly.

Before he’d really thought it through, Nate had the phone in his hand and Sophie’s number dialled, waiting impatiently for her to pick up, pacing the carpet as he did so. Disappointment and frustration flooded his body as there was a click and voicemail kicked in. The phone went sailing across the room, clattering against the wall and breaking into several pieces.

* * *

“John McRory? Dead?” Sophie echoed the words Tara had just said to her, never knowing their conversation was blocking another call from coming through.

“Yep, that’s what the man said,” her fellow grifter confirmed. “Nate didn’t take it so well. I thought that was the kinda thing you might want to know about.”

“You were right to call me, Tara, thank you.” Her friend sighed heavily, using the hand not holding the phone to push her hair back off her face. “I just wish there was something I could do. You will keep an eye on him for me, won’t you?”

Tara wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Doing the job they did, as grifters and thieves, neither she nor Sophie could afford to get too close to anybody, to care too much. There were no straight forward relationships for anyone, not least for people like them. Tara never expected to fall in love or have a happy ending, and yet she knew Sophie was different in that respect. She changed that day she met Nathan Ford so many years ago, and now, Tara knew that her own coming here to keep tabs was less because Sophie needed this team to stay together, and more that she needed someone to make sure Nate held himself together.

“Soph, if you’re so worried about him, why not come back here yourself?” she asked out-right, knowing that playing this any other way was never going to get her anywhere fast.

There was silence on the line for several moments, to the point where Tara almost wondered if they had lost the connection. Just when she was about to check, Sophie spoke.

“How are Eliot and Parker doing?” she asked, a complete change of subject that brought on an eye-roll from Tara that of course went unseen.

“They seem fine to me,” she told her friend honestly. “Honestly, I was pretty sure Spencer didn’t know how to smile until he and Parker ‘did the deed’.” She chuckled.

“Tara, don’t be so crude,” Sophie admonished her. “It’s not all about sex. I really think they love each other.”

“Yeah, well, maybe they do,” the blonde considered. “Honestly, I was never much for fairytales, but those two? Kind of adore each other. So much so that I could throw up from how cute they are.” She smiled in spite of her own better judgement. “I guess some people are just meant to be, huh?”

“Perhaps.” Sophie nodded pointlessly as she stared out of her window at the view of London, wondering not for the first time why she was really here.

This was home, where she came from in the first place, though she had a different name then and a vastly different view of the world. These days, no place in England felt like she belonged. She was never really going to find herself in the mother country, nor Europe, not in any place in the world but one, and that was the very place she had run away from.

It was times like this when Sophie started to wonder about her state of mind, after so many occasions confronting Nate about his own. She had come away to find herself, to figure out who she really was before she dare commit herself to being anything else for anyone else’s sake. Now she wondered if she was a far bigger fool than she ever accused the team’s mastermind of being.

No matter what he did, how out of control he got, how much he drank or didn’t, he always cared for her and she always cared for him. Perhaps that was supposed to be the most important thing. Parker and Eliot had acted on instinct, no games or tricks, and now they were apparently happy enough to even convince the cynical Tara that they were in love and meant to be together forever.

“Soph? Sophie!” the blonde called down the phone, catching the other grifter’s attention so suddenly she almost dropped the phone. “Hey, you okay there?”

“No,” her friend answered with a shake of her head. “No, I really don’t think I am,” she admitted. “Tara, I might not need you to cover for me with the team for as long as I thought...”

* * *

“I’ll be back,” said Parker as she slid off her barstool and headed for the ladies room.

Eliot watched her go, unable to keep the smile off his face, at least until he turned back and realised her going had left him alone with Hardison. The two guys hadn’t actually had to face each other like this since he and Parker got it together, and though he pretended not to care much, it did bother Eliot that his brother in arms might be hurt by this new relationship. It was obvious to all that Hardison liked Parker a lot, though he had never really acted on it much, and she showed no particular extra affection for him than anybody else. Of course that didn’t change the fact that the last thing the team needed was a rift between hacker and hitter,

“Hey, you’re cool with this, right?” he asked Hardison. “Y’know me and Parker...” he said vaguely, as uncomfortable as any man forced to talk about relationships and all.

“Yeah, it’s cool, man,” his friend said awkwardly, looking more into his drink than at Eliot at first. “I mean, yeah, probably woulda liked it better if she picked me,” he said with a chuckle, though it was hard to tell if he meant to make a joke or not, “but y’know Parker chose you, and you’re makin’ her happy, and that’s all I really want for the girl.” He smiled genuinely. “Doesn’t suck that she’s puttin’ you in a less angry mood either, bro,” he added, perhaps the vague allusion to them being brothers still proving to be the most important part of anything he said then.

“Thanks, man,” said Eliot, as the two shared their usual high-five / fist-bump combo, though unusually Hardison caught his buddy’s hand before he moved away, meeting his eyes with a serious expression.

“Hey, I know you tougher than me, and you could kick my ass with both hands tied behind your back,” he said seriously, “but you hurt Parker and I make you pay, you got that?”

“If I hurt her,” said Eliot, just as gravely, “I’ll let you,” he promised, just as the girl in question appeared once again.

“Hey,” she said with a slight frown as she came to stand between them a hand on each of their shoulders. “What’s with the serious?” she asked, just a little worried something bad was happening.

“It’s all good,” Hardison assured her as he went back to his drink. “We was just talking about how awesome you are,” he said with a smile. “How lucky my man Eliot is to have you.”

“Aaw, that’s... sweet.” Parker smiled, oddly giggly in the wake of such compliments, as she leaned into the embrace of her man.

For so many years, she thought happiness was stealing the biggest diamond, committing the perfect crime. She thought alone was better so she could never be hurt again. This whole thing was such a new experience for Parker, having a family and having a boyfriend. Still, this was the happiest she had been for as long as she could remember, and she only hoped it lasted. She didn’t believe in happily ever after, she wasn’t so stupid as to let herself be blinded by fairytale magic that wasn’t at all real. All she could do was hold onto this thing for as long as she could and hope it lasted a good long while yet.

“You okay?” asked Eliot as he caught her staring at him with a strange smile on her face.

“Yeah.” She nodded, planting an unexpected kiss on his lips. “I really am.”


	15. Chapter 15

When the team was around, Nate could deal. When they were running game on some scummy business man or whatever, when plans were being formed and characters rehearsed, Nate could cope with his life, just because he didn’t have to think too much about things. What he had, what he’d lost; what he needed, and bridges he’d burned. The mastermind could use never having to think of any of this stuff too much, not least right now, and yet he was the one to tell the team to leave him alone, and today of all days they actually listened!

Grieving for a guy that had been like a brother for so many years made sense, it wasn’t as if he could be expected to just let John McRory’s death go by unchecked, unnoticed, and without effect. Still, he was mindful of what being alone and dwelling was going to do to him. It wasn’t right to compare this to losing Sam, nobody could ever truly get over the loss of a child, not really. Of course that didn’t mean the same temptations weren’t lurking all around Nate right now. Just one drink, a toast to a dear friend now gone from this world, it would make sense for anybody else, but not him. Nathan Ford was an alcoholic and he knew it, now more than ever. If he went downstairs and ordered a scotch, he would never stop at just one, and if his team were here, if Sophie were here, she would tell him so, be the Jiminy Cricket he sometimes forgot to have for himself when she wasn’t around.

“I need you here, Sophie,” he said softly to nobody in particular since he was in fact alone and she presumably a million miles away.

His face in his hands, wishing the world away and yet a loved one closer to him at the same time, Nate almost missed the light knocking on his door. Even when he noticed it, he genuinely considered leaving the door unanswered, but in the end curiosity got the better of him. Besides, it might be Cora checking in on him and he didn’t want to worry her by not opening the door.

“Hello, Nate,” said the woman just the moment she caught sight of him, not John McRory’s daughter as he might’ve expected, but the one person he had been praying would come back before long.

“Sophie,” he gasped, a little shaken at the realisation that wishes really did come true sometimes, and when you least expected. “What are you...? I didn’t think you’d-”

“I’m sorry,” she cut in as she stepped into the apartment and immediately wrapped her arms around him. “Nate, I’m so sorry, for everything,” she swore as she held on tight, as if her life depended on it.

The mastermind was appropriately stunned, but none the less thrilled to have Sophie, his precious Sophie, here in his arms. He hugged her back, comforted and soothed by just her presence after too many weeks had rolled by without her. He missed her so much, more than he ever thought he could and now here she was, just exactly when he needed her most.

“You have no idea how good it is to see you,” he said when they pulled apart a moment later.

“Oh, yes, I do.” She smiled though tears were evident in her eyes as she faced him. “Tara called me, she told me about John McRory,” she explained, wiping away one stray droplet that escaped down her cheek then. “And then she was talking about Eliot and Parker... Oh, Nate, how could we be so stupid?” she asked, losing him entirely in her presumably internal monologue that came spilling out in a stream of consciousness he hadn’t a clue how to follow.

“We’re stupid?” he checked with a frown that proved he was confused by her skipping from one topic to the other twice in as many seconds.

“Well, I am,” Sophie confirmed. “No, actually, we both are... but that’s beside the point,” she decided with a shake of her head and a wave of her hand that dismissed all the less important points as she walked by Nate and into the living area, tossing her coat and purse onto the couch without a care then turning back to face him once again. “Nate, you know I went away to figure out for myself who I really was,” she began to explain as he stared dumbly at her from a few feet away, “but these past few weeks, all I’ve done is think about you. About the day we met, and the times we’ve had. About the team and our work and the times when we’re not working. I’ve gone over and over everything in my head so many times I get dizzy just trying to remember.” She sighed, a hand going to her forehead as if even talking of all this was giving her pain. “I just... I can’t figure out why we’re still playing this game.”

“What game?” asked Nate, apparently genuinely baffled, and to a certain extent still reeling from the fact Sophie was really here and so suddenly back in his life.

“This!” she said with emphasis, waving a hand between the two of them. “Us, just pretending like we can cope with only being work colleagues and pseudo-friends. I can’t, Nate. I just can’t do it anymore,” she told him, perhaps too loudly. “Eliot and Parker spent weeks tip-toeing around each other, frustrating the hell out of everybody including themselves,” she explained, though of course this much Nate already knew. “And now, Parker is as giddy as a school girl, and Tara told me that she’s seen Eliot smile more in the past couple of days than in the whole rest of the time she’s known him put together.”

“That’s probably true,” the mastermind agreed with a nod as he walked in closer to Sophie now, “but I don’t see... Soph, you know it’s not as simple as that with... with us,” he said, mindful of even using a word that connected them so completely, though unfortunately his reluctance seemed only to infuriate the grifter further as she made a noise of frustration in her throat.

“Oh, what does it take?!” she yelled to the heavens as she dragged both hands back through her hair. “I love you, Nate!” she exclaimed as she looked to him, so suddenly and with such a volume, she might’ve knocked him off his feet with the shock, “You hear me, you stupid man? I love you and I can’t keep pretending that I don’t,” she told him, apparently then waiting for his response as she stared across the space between them, just a couple of feet and yet it might as well have been miles in that moment.

Nate wanted to speak, wanted to answer her, would like nothing more than to admit he loved her too and shoot for a happily ever after like all good fairytales had. Unfortunately, he was more of a realist than that. He couldn’t believe in everything working out so perfectly, because he had lived in this world too long and knew first hand that it just wasn’t the way it worked. The good guys don’t always win, those in love can’t always last forever, and the world seemed to tend more towards darkness than light, especially Nate’s own little corner of it.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Sophie,” he told her with a shake of his head, eyes going to the floor because he knew how much this must be hurting her, simply because he felt it too. “I’m not... I can’t give you anything. I’d love to, believe me. I’d love to promise you Utopia and more, everything you ever wanted, but this is all there is,” he said, arms spread wide to show her. “Just a broken man.”

“Newsflash, Nate! We’re all broken!” she exclaimed, tears streaming down her face unchecked by now. “You and me, and Eliot and Parker, and Hardison, and Tara... every one of us is broken. Why do you think we do what we do?” she reminded him, swallowing the emotion that was thick in her throat and willing herself to finish what she had started here today. “I don’t want the world from you, Nate,” she promised as she cleared the space between them, putting a hand to his face when he tried to look away. “I’m not asking for anything, except an honest answer to a simple question,” she told him as he met her eyes at last. “Do you love me?”

It was an easy enough question, to which Nate knew he didn’t even have a choice of two answers. There was only one, and he could do nothing but give it now and hope for the best.

“Yes,” he told her honestly. “Sophie, yes, you know I do,” he promised her.

It was all the grifter needed to hear, all she had ever needed to hear, truth be told, a point she proved as she pulled Nate closer and kissed his lips.

She didn’t expect a fairytale ending, not even close, but she couldn’t live this life anymore, pretending she felt nothing when in fact she felt everything when it came to Nathan Ford. Admitting to needing anyone was hard enough, especially in their line of work. Sophie Deveraux always thought she was safer not needing anyone, not wanting to need them, but life had a habit of turning out very differently to what she expected lately. So much time spent trying to ‘find herself’, or more so perhaps to find where she belonged. She ought to have known from the very beginning that it was right here in the arms of the man she loved most, and she just wasn’t willing to pretend otherwise anymore.

* * *

Parker felt strange. It was a good kind of strange, but still, she wasn’t sure how to really feel about it. The last week or so, an awful lot had changed, and yet for once in her life, all the things that had sprung up at her out of the blue were good. First she and Eliot formed this odd relationship that they had now, and she had come to realise that the only thing that made really great sex even better was caring enough about the other person that you wanted to stay after. She loved this, being curled up in bed in the arms of her lover, knowing he would always keep her safe and never harm her. Parker never had that before and she was so desperate to hold onto it now for as long as she could.

The second change happened just yesterday when Sophie came home to the team, and the third thing was a result of that, she and Nate were finally together. It was kind of a miracle that the pair of them had finally got over themselves enough to admit how they really felt and just be together. Parker, Eliot, and Hardison had all known from Day One that their grifter and mastermind were meant to be, even if the history that existed between them was fuzzy at best, and both had more issues individually than many couples would have between two of them.

Everything was happy, to a point where Parker was genuinely fearful that this was some kind of dream or trick, and that all too soon it would all be shattered and gone. She was used to pain and loss and tragedy, and yet it never got any easier to live through. She could put on a brave face and say it didn’t matter, but her heart was still capable of breaking, and the happy times she was finding at every turn concerned her, because surely they had to end before long.

“That’s a helluva frown, darlin’,” said Eliot as he glanced down and spotted her worried expression. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She nodded once, looking up at him. “I’m... too okay,” she admitted. “I guess I’m just waiting for everything to turn bad. It’s too good right now.” She shrugged her shoulders, subconsciously pushing her body closer to his, as if maybe holding on tighter might keep her in this happy bubble she had found a little longer somehow.

“Parker, you can’t live worrying about what might go wrong all the time,” he told her with a smile he couldn’t help. “I mean, yeah, you gotta be ready for danger and all,” he considered, knowing in their line of work it was particularly important to know all the angles and anticipate all outcomes, be they good or bad, “but when things are going good, you gotta just let ‘em be and hope they last. You keep waiting for the hammer to fall, babe, and you’re not enjoying the good times while you got ‘em,” he pointed out, clearly the voice of experience, as usual.

The couple shared a sweet kiss, and Parker’s head dropped onto Eliot’s shoulder as she snuggled in close. How he managed to always make her feel better about stuff, she still hadn’t quite figured out. Eliot Spencer was the one and only person she ever felt this way about. She cared for the whole team, of course she did, they were the closest thing she had to family, but it was different to what she had with the hitter. He was the only guy she ever had in her life that made her want to stick around after sex. He was the one person she always trusted to be there when she needed him, whether to physically catch her or just tell her what she needed to hear, keep her in check. When he held her, she never once felt restricted or smothered, only safe and... loved.

“I love you,” the words fell out her mouth unchecked as she came to a sudden and shocking realisation, her head coming up so fast from Eliot’s shoulder she nearly clocked him in the chin and bust his jaw.

“You... what?” he checked, sure he had to have misheard the words she had mumbled into his chest a moment before, but then the look on her face, all full of confusion and panic, meant maybe he really had heard those three magic words.

“I... I think, I love you,” she stumbled over the unfamiliar words with a frown that soon faded as she bust up laughing in such a way, Eliot would almost have been insulted if he wasn’t so shocked. “I’m sorry,” she chuckled. “I just never said that before and it sounded so weird,” she admitted, feeling strange at how right it had felt just the moment those words left her lips. “Eliot, I love you,” she said again just as soon as she could manage to be serious. “Is that okay?” she checked when he was silent too long.

It was his turn to laugh then, not at her at all, because he would never do that, but at himself for being such a fool. In some ways, Eliot thought maybe he’d known from the beginning that he cared for Parker, that he could indeed love her. Lately it had become clearer every day, though he had never once summoned the courage to say the words. Maybe he feared her reaction, maybe he was just worried it would screw things by making them more complicated than they really needed to be, or perhaps the only problem was he was judging this relationship on the downfall of his last real one.

“Of course it’s okay, Parker,” he promised her, putting a hand to her face, and pulling her into a long deep kiss, “because if you hadn’t noticed, I love you too,” he told her honestly.

She wasn’t quite sure what to do with that, and the feeling like she wanted to laugh again stirred within her but it was only a fleeting thing. Maybe it wasn’t so funny, this being in love thing. Parker just never thought it would happen to her, she figured that after all these years and all the people she had known in her life, it was so unlikely that she would ever meet one she could love or that could love her like this. Now here she was, with a real live boyfriend that didn’t just want to sleep with her and walk away, didn’t just want to use her to help him with a crime and then disappear into the night with the prize. Nope, Eliot was here for keeps and he loved her, and what was even more odd to Parker was that she knew for certain she loved him too - she wasn’t sure she could imagine ever stopping now she’d started.

“Wow,” she said aloud, rolling herself over on top of him with a grin on her face that he found infectious. “I so didn’t see this coming. I mean, we didn’t even like each other much when we met.”

“Kinda crazy,” Eliot had to agree when he thought back to those first days in Chicago, soon forgetting to think about anything as Parker kissed a trail down the side of his neck.

“I’m good with crazy,” she said, bringing her head up to look down at him, a smirk on her lips that he more than understood - he was the one who always liked to remind her she was indeed crazy, but it didn’t change the fact he loved her, in fact it was quite possible it was one of the very reasons why.

“Well, then, we’ll just be crazy together,” he said, running his fingers through her hair, “for as long as we can stand each other,” he told her, seemingly moving in for a kiss but then flipping the pair of them over at the last moment.

“Might be a long time,” Parker told him, a little breathless from the surprise of the movement as well as the intensity in his eyes as he stared down at her. “I’m kinda getting used to this whole couple thing,” she admitted.

“Me too,” Eliot agreed as he moved in to kiss her long and hard on the lips.

So much in their lives was fake, all the cover stories and the secret identities, con after con, and grift over grift. This was the most real thing either of them had ever experienced. Every touch, every kiss, every word of love, was as genuine as anything ever could be. Heaven only knew how long it would last, but Eliot and Parker were going to make the most of it, for as long as they could.


End file.
